Modern day Kenshin
by ruruken15
Summary: Kenshin left his assassin days behind him in favor of finishing his education and escaping the government. But the government doesn't want to leave him alone. In fact, just as Kenshin is trying to fit in....ON HOLD UNTIL I CAN FIND MY DOCUMENTS AND EDIT
1. Chapter 1

RK: Hello! Yes, I know, first fic, but hey, give me a chance! A well used idea with a slight twist, though I'm still working on it myself….hehe. Well, read and review, please? Constructive criticism appreciated!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, then only things I own are the plat. Nothing else is mine. All belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki……darn

RK: And I have a few flashbacks. Kenshin remembering. Important, even though they are pretty close together. Gives some background information.

Summary: ok, let's lets say Kenshin is an assassin for the government and a soldier in the army. Let'sLets also say that he doesn't use a gun, but an ancient style of swordsmanship passed down through generations in his family. Let'sLets also put this story in 2004, the three years after 9/11. And, let'slets also say that he just got out of the army, leaving the hundreds he has killed behind him and deciding to further his education by going to high school. And, for appearances sake, let'slets have him as Hitokiri Battosai, the man of legends. No one really knows who he is, for he fights in the shadows and no one has ever truly seen him and lived to tell about it, even with a gun.

Now, Kenshin Himura shows up as a sophomore in Satoshi High school at the beginning of the year. He is a moody, withdrawn teen. Okay, for those who have seen the TV show or read the manga, all those battles he fought, well, lets just say there will be some interesting high points in this story. And what'swhats up with gym class? Why are they teaching Kendo the second week of school? And how will Kenshin fair during the physical test the first week? Hee, I'mim so evil!- Oh, and some of the stuff about the war isn't true. I just put it there for my own purposes.

Some of the characters are OOC because they have to be. And keep in mind, Kenshin only left the battosai side of him behind a little over a week ago, so he's going to be a little different than the Kenshin we have all come to know and love!

**A hectic first day**

"Hey, Sano, have you heard that that guy, the battosai, left the army? All that's been said is that he disappeared. Not one of the governments agents have been sent after that killer either!"

The speaker was a short kid with spiky black hair and dark eyes. He looked to be about fourteen. The person he was talking to was twice as tall, though his hair was even worse than the shorterother boy's.

"I bet their all too scared to go after him. The rumors say he's six feet tall with arms like tree trunks. They probably don't want to have the chance to fail at trying to capture him. I'd love to get my hands on him though. After all he was the one who single handedly obliterated my father and all his guards." Sano looked wistfully around, his eyes not seeming to look at anything in particular, that is, until the bell rang.

"Well, Yahiko, you'd better get to class. Don't wanna be late your first day in high school! See ya third for PE!" (Okok, for appearances sake, Yahiko has to be IN the school for this story to work out, so he's a teenager. Deal with it.) Sano ran off, heading to his first period before he got detention. As he skidded around a corner, he ran headfirst into, it seemed, a brick wall.

"OW! Who the hell put this wall here….." Sano trailed off as he looked up into the face of a young man, whosewho's bright red hair made Sano think of blood. He shook the thought off as he stood up and offered his hand. The boy looked at it strangely, then, realization dawning on him, he shook it.

"Who are you?" Sano asked. "You look lost. Need some help?"

"The name is Kenshin Himura and this one is new to the school. OneHe would appreciate it if you helped mehim out." Kenshin looked up at Sano, and the tallerother boy inwardly gasped.

Kenshin's face was marked by a crossed shaped scar on his left cheek that enhanced rather then took away from his looks, and the violet eyes were wide and deep. His face was smiling, but those eyes. Those eyes were deeper then the ocean.

"My name is Sanosuke Sagara. Pleased to meet you. Let me see your schedule. I'll help you out from there." Kenshin handed over the piece of paper in his hand, the wide, innocent expression still in place. Sano stared a little strangely at him, then glanced at the slip of paper.

"Good, we have all the same classes. I'll show you around until you get the hang of things. Oh, and by the way, sorry for runnin' into you like that. You must have like rock hard abs or something."

"Um….hehe. This one works out a lot?" Kenshin offered weakly, the expression changing from innocent to sheepish. Sano laughed.

"You're gonna have to take me with you one of these days. Oh, and call me Sano. Everyone else does." The two of them headed off to first period, history.

Walking in the room was a nightmare for Kenshin. He really didn't want to face people again, so soon. And besides, he wasn't much of a people person. He felt comforted by the weight of his backpack. As soon as he walked in, late, for the bell had already rung, the teacher glanced over at them.

"Mr. Sagara. Late as usual. Well, what's your excuse this time?" her expression was forlorn, like a puppy who had chased itshis tail over and over again without luck.

"I had to show the new kid where everything was! Don't punish me for being helpful!" Sano adopted an innocent expression.

"Sano? Helpful? I didn't think those two words could be used in the same sentence without a 'not' between them!" A girl in the back of the class yelled. Sano's head whipped around.

"Shut up Megumi! I don't need your smart ass comments the first day back!" The girl, Megumi, chuckled, and Kenshin could have sworn he saw fox ears pop out of her head. _Get a grip on yourself Kenshin. You must be nervous or something._ He shook off the thoughts and stared at the teacher, who was silently appraising him.

"And what is your name?" Her eyes were boring straight into his own. He stared right back and answered.

"Kenshin Himura. This one just registered today." All heads turned.

"Ah, so that is why you are not on my attendance roster. Well, just go sit down with Mr. Sagara. He'll help you out, if he doesn't get you put in detention." All the kids laughed at this while Sano just muttered a couple unpleasant phrases and headed to the back of the room.

Kenshin followed, and ended up sitting between Sanosuke and a girl with blue eyes and long black hair up in a ponytail. He didn't have much of a chance to do anything other then get out his paper and pencil before the teacher assigned class work.

"Ok, class. Since today's the first day back, all I'm going to give you is a current event for you to write about. As you all know, and, from what I've heard going around the school this morning, you've been discussing with great interest, your assignment is to write at least four paragraphs on the disappearance of the battosai." (I love the irony of this, don't you?)

Kenshin froze, eyes staring straight ahead, his brain fuzzy. "You need to have something that is fact, and a theory on why he disappeared. You have until the end of class. You may work with a partner if you wish. Get started." With this said she turned and sat down at her desk. Kenshin hadn't moved. He just sat in his seat, dumbfounded, while everyone else had gotten up to find a partner.

"Hey, Kenshin. You ok? You look like you've seen a ghost. All this assignment is is busy work because the teacher's lazy." Sano was staring, concerned for his new friend. Kenshin didn't answer. He looked like he was in another world. Sano shrugged, looking over at the girl sitting next to Kenshin.

"Kaoru, did you see what made him go all still and silent like this?" The girl shook her head.

"All I saw was when Mrs. Omasu said we had to write about the Battosai he froze. Must be something serious. Well, I'm pretty sure he'll come out of it soon enough. Lets just get to work." With this said, Kaoru turned back to her paper and began scribbling down notes and ideas.

Kenshin, on the other hand, was remembering.

_The blood. All that blood. That's all I see anymore. No happiness, no remorse, no guilt. All I see is the blood of countless men falling, dying. The bloodstained sword swings, and more blood falls. It covers me; it drenches me, and still, the bloodstained sword arcs high, and the silver light flashes. Another falls. More blood. The screams, the yells, the shouts of horror, and I move on, deaf to everything but the horror. As I progress onward, trails of the dead behind me and the voices of those I killed still ringing in my ears, I witness a massacre. A massacre of many, many people. They are all killed, blown to bits with one bomb. A bomb meant for hell, instead it causes hell, it causes the chaos that surrounds us all, and, as I watch, I am once again engulfed in a realm of madness and sorrow, of killing and blood. I, a sixteen year old child, has killed more men that any other single person in this war. And I am the one who leaves the dead behind to take more lives, all for a cause that may one day come to pass, or may not. And the screams and blood fall even harder. It rains blood everywhere I go. Must I always kill?_

Kenshin slowly calmed down, his pulse returning to normal, his eyes losing the look of horrified sorrow, his face reclaiming its innocence. Sano and Kaoru stared at Kenshin as the amber color in his wide eyes returned to its normal unusual violet shade. He breathed out slowly, hands clenching and unclenching.

"Uh, you ok man?" A voice from his right asked. Kenshin's head whipped around so fast you could hear the bones popping.

"Oh, it's just you Sano. Sorry." Sano looked confused.

"You okay? I mean, you just zoned out for a moment. You feeling alright?" Sano and Kaoru traded identical looks of confusion.

"Yeah, this one is fine now. Sorry to worry you. This one just zoned out for a moment." Kenshin's eyes closed. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, see it rushing behind his eyelids.

"Well, might as well get started on this paper. It's gonna take the rest of the class period to finish. If only the real Battosai were here to help. Then we wouldn't have to do all of this hard thinking stuff." Kenshin, naturally, fell off his seat and Sano stared down at him.

""What? I'm only joking. I wouldn't want that killer in the same room as me unless I was beating him up." To emphasize the point, he punched the table, only managing to hurt his fist and dent the desk slightly. "OW! That hurt!" Sanosuke clutched the injured left fist in his right hand.

"Sano, cut that out! Do you really want to be sent to detention the first day back for defacing school property?" Megumi hissed. She was sitting on the other side of Kaoru, and her pretty face was glaring at Sano. "We need to get to work on the assignment Mrs. Omasu gave us, and I'd rather not get a poor grade on my first paper." With this, she huffed and turned to face Kaoru.

"Do you have any ideas on why the Battosai left the army? I'm lost." She asked, a small frown on her face. Kaoru stopped writing and looked up.

"Well, I have a couple, but most of them are pretty dumb ideas." She looked morosely down at her paper. "Sano? How about you?" Sanosuke shook his head. The three of them turned in unison to Kenshin. "How about you?"

"Well, this one has an idea. Maybe he was just tired of killing people?" This didn't seem to work for them.

"Why would it be that? I mean, he's been killing for years. Why would he just give it all up now? And right when the war started to turn our way? I mean, he couldn't have chosen a worse time to retire!" They all nodded in agreement to Sano's words. Kenshin looked sheepish.

"Well, you do know that the Battosai is still only a teenager, right?" Three heads turned in his direction, and three simultaneous popping sounds were heard.

"HE'S STILL ONLY A TEENAGER!" three voices shouted, and every head in the room turned towards them. Kenshin's face was a bright red color as he nodded. _My, how ironic is it to be talking about yourself without letting people know that you are the Battosai?_ A part of Kenshin pondered, sounding amused at his predicament. _Oh, go shove it._ He whispered back. He heard the voice chuckle as it receded to the innermost depths of his mind. He turned his attention outward as the whole class, as well as the teacher, stared at him.

"How do you know this?" Mrs. Omasu asked, her face a pale mask. "Are you sure of it?" Everyone was crowding around the helpless teenager, eager for answers.

"We--..we--.well this one'sones uncle was fighting in the same area the battosai was and he caught a glimpse of the guy. He wrote that the battosai mustn't have been any older than seventeen and that was two years ago!" Kenshin's words were muffled through the pile of bodies pressing against him, all impatient to hear what he had to say.

"So your saying that he's nineteen now?" a boy called out. _Boy, isn't this interesting. I quite liked that lie you told. Quite convincing. You again? I thought that you left!_ Kenshin was almost about to kick everyone off him when he was saved by the bell.

"Ok everyone. Since we didn't finish the current event today, I want it handed in tomorrow as homework. Bye! Have a good first day!" Everyone walked out, all talking animatedly about the battosai, and Kenshin sighed in relief.

"Math's next. Algebra 2. I hope you brought a pillow, because the teacher can't get any more dull then Mr. Hoji. He thinks he's all that. It's annoying and gets boring after a while. You might as well sleep, there's nothing better to do." Sano led Kenshin to a room on the second story, where they parted ways with Kaoru and Megumi.

"See you two third! Bye!" Megumi called over her shoulder. She and Kaoru waved goodbye and headed off to the right while Kenshin and Sano went left.

"May this one ask where they are going?"

"They go to the advanced math class while we get stuck in the normal one. Sorta sucks, doesn't it?" Kenshin didn't say a word.

"Ah, Mr. Sagara, you're not late. How amazing. Please take a seat. And who might your friend be?" The teacher pointed at Kenshin.

"Oh, this is a new kid. Just registered today. His name's Kenshin Himura." The teacher, Mr. Hoji, wrote the name down on the bottom of his roster and beckoned Kenshin to a chair in the back, next to Sano's.

Tossing his back under the desk, Sano flopped down, motioning for Kenshin to do the same thing. With a lot more care, Kenshin set his bag down and sat, then just slumped forward and fell asleep, much like any other teenager would do in math. Though he did fall asleep, he also dreamed, and his dreams weren't all that pleasant.

(Okok, before anyone gets mad at me, some of the following pieces of information about the government are not correct. Thank you.)

_It was raining blood again, and the boy in the shadows, wearing an old fashioned Japanese kimono, was holding a sword, wielding it with deadly precision and accuracy…… _

_His target was coming down the road. Sozo Sagara, head of the NIA, Neutral Internal Affairs. It was that man who was stopping the US from declaring any sort of war against Al Qaeda. He must be eliminated. The boy waited until he was within range of the katana, then struck out with deadly threat. The katana gleamed silver in the moonlight, flashing in and out of bodies, causing the sky to rain blood down upon him once again. It disguised the tears leaking from his eyes as he killed man after man. His god-like speed enabled him to slayassassinate every last one before they could get a shot at him._

_His task completed, he sheathed his sword, and with a final glance at the bodies of the slain, Kenshin Himura, Hitokiri Battosai, retreated once again into the shadows, leaving behind only the nonexistent cries of the dead and their bodies, and taking with him more murdered souls._

Kenshin woke with a startled gasp as the bell rang. All around him was a normal high school classroom, filled with students leaving.

"Come on, weirdo. We have PE next with Mrs. Shurra, and she hates it if we're late." Lifting his hand off the desk, a couple papers caught his attention as they fell off. He snatched them out of the air and looked at Sano.

"What are these for?" he asked inquisitively. Sano shrugged.

"You take them home. They're the rules and guidelines for his class. All you missed was him gloating on how good he is at teaching, so, not much. Let's go meet the missy and Megumi before they kill me for getting you in trouble." Sano towed the short red-head out of class and down the hall to where Megumi and Kaoru were waiting, albeit impatiently, for the two to show up.

"What took you so long?" Kaoru demanded, looking at Sano for an explanation.

"It's not my fault. I had to wake up Mr. Shorty here. He slept through math." Kenshin stood up indignantly.

"Hey, don't blame all this on me.this one. Sano was the one who said people could sleep in Mr. Hoji's class, and this one was tired." Kenshin pointed an accusing finger at the rooster headed boy. The two girls stared at him, and Sano raised his hands in defeat.

"Lets just get to PE, before we're late and have to do laps." The four of them ran down to the PE room, only just making it. The teacher stood off to the right of the large gym, holding up a clipboard and calling out names.

"Kamiya Kaoru?"

"Here"

"Sagara Sanosuke?"

"Here"

"Takani Megumi?"

"Here"

"Ah, and who is the mystery kid with you three?" the teacher asked. Kenshin looked up into dark brown eyes, his own indigo ones staring back.

"MyThis one's name is Kenshin Himura. This one justJust registered today." Kenshin watched, borednonplused, as his name was written down at the bottom of the roster sheet.

"Ok, everyone. Go dress out. We are starting the physical education presidential test, to see how well you stayed in shape over the summer. Come now, students, go dress out." Everyone groaned.

"Why do we have to dress out our first day back?" one kid whined.

"Yeah, I mean. She could have just let us play basket ball or something." They trudged to the locker rooms, where sets of loose workout clothes were sitting on shelves outside the doors. A sign hanging on one of the shelves read:

DO NOT STEAL UNLESS YOU WISH  
TO RUN 10 MILES EVERYDAY

Mrs. Shurra

"Well, I don't think anyone's going to take any this year. Mrs. Shurra sure is tough." Kaoru commented, searching for a pair of black shorts and a red top that fit her. Megumi looked appraisingly at Kenshin.

"I'm not sure they have anything that will fit you. You're so short and skinny. How about………THESE!" Megumi pulled out a 'small' pair of shortssmall short and an 'extra small' shirt. "I think these will fit just fine. And you'll need this to pull your hair back." She handed him the clothes along with a pony tail holder. He took both and followed Sanosuke and a younger boy off to the left into the guys locker room.

"Hey, Yahiko, this is Kenshin Himura. Kenshin, this is Yahiko Myojin. He lives with Kaoru. He's an orphan." Yahiko stuck his tongue out at Sano, then looked at Kenshin.

"Are you sure he's even old enough to be in high school? He looks like he should still be in middle school." Yahiko appraised the now glum Kenshin.

"Why is everyone picking on this this one today? Three people have called this one short in the last fifteen minutes. Jeez." Kenshin began to dress out. When he took off his shirt, Sano and Yahiko could see well built arms and a rock hard stomach. But the most surprising thing was the numerous scars decoration his body, small and large, all over. Sano and Yahiko looked at each other, then back at Kenshin.

"Well, what do you think happened to him?" Yahiko asked Sano in an undertone.

"No idea, but it must have been bad. I'll ask him later. Let's get dressed." As the three guys finished up, the girls had met up with Misao Makimachi.

"HEY MISAO! How's it going?" Kaoru asked the freshman. Misao waved at her friends, bouncing with excitement.

"This year I'll be in the same school as my Aoshi is!" Her eyes turned into little hearts as she sighed dreamily. Kaoru and Megumi sighed in exasperation. Misao was referring to Aoshi Shinomori, the junior she's had a crush on since she was in 5th grade, four years ago, and she hasn't given up yet.

"Ya ready Misao? Today's the beginning of the physet test. Think your going to do ok?" Misao nodded enthusiastically. She was ready to set the record at this school for being the best. "Then lets move out!" Kaoru led the way out of the locker room and back into the gym, where most of the boys were already done. The three girls joined the three guys and stood, talking lowly amongst themselves as they waited for class to start

"Hey, Kenshin. This is Misao Makimachi, a freshman. Misao, this is Kenshin Himura, a sophomore and new to the school." Sano introduced the two.

"Hi Misao. Do you like high school so far? This one finds it very confusing." Misao stared at Kenshin strangely.

"Do you always talk in third person?" she asked inquisitively. Kenshin nodded, his face a little red. "wh…" she was interrupted when the teacher began to speak into a megaphone. All heads turned to listen.

"Welcome back students. Today, we are starting out with height, weight, muscle to fat ratio, then we are doing the vertical jump and the long jump. Boys in a line to my left, girls to my right. You will write down what your height and weight is, along with your age and name on top of this sheet of paper, which will be handed into me at the end of class. Line up!"

The boys and girls fell into their respective lines, and papers with charts on it were handed out. As Kenshin wrote down his age, he lied a little. Instead of putting nineteen, which no one would believe anyway, he put sixteen, just like he did on his transcripts.

When he was measured for height, the rest of his friends laughed at him. He was five foot sixtwo inches. Even Misao and Yahiko were just a little shortertaller then him, though not by much. He weighed quite a bit for his height, though it was soon explained. He was all muscle.

Next was the vertical jump. His weight, however, surprised even those teachers that were helping out, and his muscle to fat ratio surprised everyone but him. He had no fat. Misao did pretty good on the vertical jump, setting a new school record, as well as in the long jump. Sano broke it just as fast, though he couldn't beat the long jump.

Then it was Kenshin's turn. He took his place by the wall, bent his knees just a little, and sprang up. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch him. Well, actually, they stopped to gape in amazement as he balanced lightly in the ceiling beam twenty odd feet above them.

"Uh, Sano? Are you sure Kenshin's human? No human can possibly do that." Yahiko was staring up at Kenshin as well. The young man looked calm and peaceful standing up there. Then he looked down at those watching him, and jumped off.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HIMURA! YOU'RE GONNA KILL YOURSELF!" Misao yelled, though her worries were groundless as Kenshin landed gracefully on the floor.

"Um, I think we just broke the world record in a vertical jump, and, unless I'm dreaming, that boy ain't human." The PE teacher muttered under her breath. Kenshin ignored everyone's gaping mouth as they asked him question after question. He just walked right on by, straight back to the only friends he had ever had.

"Uh, Kenshin? Are you sure you're human? 'Cause no human I know can do that." Sano asked. Kenshin just looked a little perplexed, but walked on by and got in line for the long jump. When his turn came, he rocked back and forth for a moment, then pushed off, landing a good thirty-five feet away. Everyone went through the same routine, with Kenshin shrugging off whatever anyone said, slightly confused.

After they changed back in, it didn't take long for word to get around the school on what had happened, and this time, there was no exaggeration.

"I saw it with my own two eyes. That Himura kid jumped a straight twenty feet into the air, landing on the ceiling beam. I swear! It was amazing! And then he jumped off it and landed without getting hurt! Now that's what I call cool!" Kenshin overheard a couple boys discussing the events in the PE room today and sighed. He really didn't think it was all that special, but then again, he had never really been out in the general public in a long time.

Kenshin glanced over at his new friends, who were just staring at him with expressions of apprehension still plastered over their faces.

"Uh, Sanosuke, what's our next class?" Kenshin asked, trying to break the ice. It seemed to work. Sano snapped out of his reverie and looked down at his schedule.

"English, with Ms. Yumi. She's okay. Strict and vindictive, but okay. We probably won't be doing much anyway."

Sano was right. As soon the four of them entered the room, Misao and Yahiko had to go elsewhere, the bell rang. They sat in the back of the class, Kenshin in between Sano and Kaoru while Megumi sat on the far side of the missy, as Sano called her. The teacher, Ms. Yumi, started calling role, stopping between names to see where students sat and marking it down on a sheet of paper. When she got to the back of the room, she noticed an empty chair on her seating chat that was filled with a red-haired teenager looking slightly uncomfortable.

"And who are you?" she asked, pointing her pen at Kenshin. He looked around, hoping she was gesturing at another kid, but got up resignedly when he noticed that no one else was getting up.

"MyThis one's name is Kenshin Himura. This one justJust registered today." He remained standing, aware of the eyes that stared at him. Apparently, word got around fast, and everyone knew who he was. He was 'the kid who jumped to the ceiling'. He sighed.

"Do you write in third person as well?" She asked, wondering if his strange dialect extended to his script. He didn't answer, too far into his own thoughts to notice what she was saying. 'Then I'll just have to find out later. I think I'm going to enjoy this year'syears bunch of kids. Especially the red-haired one.' Ms. Yumi turned from the students and picked up a piece of paper and began to write on the bored.

**Assignment due tomorrow for a grade:**

**1. Write a short essay about the battosai. Come up with several ideas on why he might have left the army and what he may be doing now. Must have at least three facts and a quote from a government speaker directly related to this incident. **

**2. Write a short story on what the battosai might have been like, and what he could have done. Be sure to have appropriate details. Include at least one fact.**

**You may work with a partner.**

Kenshin banged is head on the desk, wondering if the torture would ever stop. _'I thought I came to high school to get AWAY from the battosai side, but now it seems to be following me everywhere. If only if only I could ever escape it. _Kenshin was frustrated. He didn't think that he would get two assignments on himself, but high school offered a whole bushel of surprises at every stinken' turn in the road.

_'Ah, tis seem as if the whole world is turning against you. You know, I don't think the government's going to have to send anyone after you, you'll just drive yourself insane before the end of the week. There, job done.'_ The voice sounded extremely self-satisfied._ 'GREEEEEEAT, now I'm having conversations with myself. What else do I need_? _A group of assassins trailing after me and the picture of 'Battosai the haunted' will be complete. God, I need more sleep if that's the best I can come up with._

The three others sitting around the troubled teen watched as he repeatedly banged his head against his desk, managing to leave small dents in the wooden top.

"Isn't this getting old?" Was heard, repeatedly, coming out of Kenshin's mouth. The four just watched him

"Do you think we should stop him? I meanman, he might get brain damage if he keeps it up." Sano asked pointedly. Then, as suddenly as it began, the banging stopped. Kenshin sat up, rubbing his now red forehead and looking around. Before he could ask any questions, the teacher started speaking again.

"Ok, I'm going to hand out several pieces of paper with the guidelines and rules for my class. I expect you ALL to follow them. Then get to work on the assignment on the board. Got it?" All heads nodded as she began to hand out the papers.

Kenshin took his from Ms. Yumi and shoved them in his bag, which happened to be a navy blue gym bag for some as of yet unknown reason, careful to only open it enough to slip the papers inside. Then he grabbed his pencil and lined paper, setting it on the now slightly screwed up desk. He looked faintly surprised for a moment at the dents, then turned sheepish, his cheeks stained red.

"Uh, Sano? Would it be okay if this one used your desk for a while?the moment? This one's seems to be messed up at the momentminute…hehe." Kenshin looked over at Sano, who was trying hard to hide his amusement at his short friend's predicament.

"Sure. Just try not to dent my desk while you're at it. I really don't need to go to detention for defacing school property on my first day back. Wouldn't be a good way to start the year out. I'm trying to get on friendly terms with the deans." Megumi seemed to be choking on something, and Kaoru was red faced from suppressed laughter.

"YOU? On the GOOD side of the deans? After you blew up the entire boys' bathroom in the two hundred hallway? I don't think an entire life's worth of repenting could make up for that!" Megumi gasped out, tears running down her face as she laughed silently. Sano just glared at her.

"You blew UP the boys' bathroom? How on earth did you manage to do that?" Kenshin asked, surprise in his voice. Sano grumbled something under his breath. "What did you just say?" Kenshin demanded, his voice teasing. Sano muttered a few choice swear words before answering.

"Katsu gave me something he had been working on. Said it would be cool if we tried it out. The only available location inside school was the bathroom. I didn't know it was a bomb." Sano muttered a few more choice words, causing Kenshin to raise an eyebrow.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU TRUST THAT MANIAC KATSU! ITS NOT LIKE WE DON"T KNOW HE'S A CHEMSCIENCE MAJOR!" Kaoru yelled, her voice right in Kenshin's ear. He pushed the enraged girl back, hoping for a little breathing space, and some piece and quiet.

"OW! Did you know that your voice is very painful when it is being used o yell in this one's ear? And very loud?" Kenshin asked of Kaoru, hoping to calm the other girl down. No such luck. Kaoru turned towards the red head and attempted to literally take his head off. Megumi, the only one not involved, watched in amusement as both Kenshin and Sano were pummeled. Kenshin's violet eyes went swirly while his head flopped around on his shoulders. Sano was already on the floor. Deciding to step in before it got ugly, she laid a hand on Kaoru's shoulder.

"Kaoru, before you get carried away, we might want to get started on our essay." Megumi pointed out, causing Kenshin and Sano to breathe a sigh of relief. Kaoru cast a glance over her shoulder, and the two teens gulped.

"Kaoru is scary." Kenshin whispered to Sano, who nodded in agreement. They both got off the floor, Kenshin sitting in Sano's desk and Sano, well, he was sitting on the floor with a binder in hand.

"I don't see why you had to steal my desk. You could have been the one on the floor Shorty." Kenshin just smiled as he stared down at the blank paper in front of him. _'What do I do now. I have no idea what to write about. It's not like I can just say that I'm the battosai. Someone help me.' _Kenshin pleaded silently. The voice, which Kenshin had officially dubbed 'Voice' started laughing.

_'What are you so happy about?' _Kenshin muttered silently, wishing he could just yank it out and pound it into dust. He was quite enjoying the mental image when voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

_'How about you let me take over? I can help you write the paper without giving away your secret. I promise not to kill anyone.'_

_ 'Oh, that's reassuring, though I highly doubt I could stop you anyway. But one question. Who the hell are you?' _Voice laughed at him.

_'Haven't you guessed already? I'm your other side. Anyway, I can help. Just let me have control of your right hand. That's all, I promise.' _ Kenshin reluctantly yielded control of his command of saidright hand, though he kept a tight rein on the being inside. He had no idea who it was, but the thoughts felt familiar. Kenshin leaned back in his chair, making sure that he didn't lose track of what the voice was doing, but resting his eyes.

Sano, Megumi, and Kaoru stared at Kenshin. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Megumi asked, her eyes wide. Sano and Kaoru nodded.

"As long as your thinking that he's writing super fast without looking at the paper, then yes, he is. How though?" Kaoru was staring. She didn't mean to, but at the moment, he looked so relaxed that she could almost see him as a child, instead of an uptight teen who could do things no ordinary human could. She stared at him, taking in all the details, from the long khaki pants and sandals, to the bright pink shirt and vivid red hair. Her eyes settled on the cross shaped scar, and she wondered how a young child like him had ever managed to acquire such a wound.

"You taking a liking to him, Kaoru?" a voice whispered in her ear. Her head whipped around, almost a full 180 degrees, to stare into Megumi's face. She was smiling, her customary sly look on her face.

"It….It's nothing like that Megumi! I was just…..watching him write. I wanted to know how he's writing like that. That's all, I swear." Kaoru was stuttering. Megumi just smiled, her hand over her mouth to hide it.

"Sure. Whatever you say." She turned back to her own work, the sequence on her blue shirt sparkling, and left Kaoru to her own devices. It would do her some good to find a guy she liked, and Kenshin didn't seem all to bad. At least, in the worst possible case, he would let her down gently. Or so Megumi hoped. If not, then Kenshin would be in serious trouble.

Said teen wasn't paying any attention to anyone, and was practically asleep. The only thing holding him back was the fact that he still didn't have control of his hand. So he just sat there, hoping to high heavens that voice wasn't writing anything that would get him in trouble.

_'There, all done. Now, was that so hard?' _Voice said.was done. Kenshin scrambled out of his daydreams and looked at the paper, but before he could read it, the bell rang.

_'You'd better pray to the gods that this is appropriate.' _Kenshin muttered back to the recaltracent voice. The voice just chuckled, and receded back to the depths of his mind. Muttering something abut pesky voices and people that don't listen, Kenshin followed the others out of class and down the hall.

"So, Sano, what do we have next?" Kenshin asked, praying it wasn't another class. Sano grinned.

"We have lunch! Isn't that wonderful! I'm starving, and it looks like you could use a break." Kenshin gave a sigh of relief. Lunch. The best class of the day. The four of them walked, or rather, Kaoru and Megumi walked while the two boys ran, down to the lunch room.

"Hey, Kenshin. Why don't you stand in line and get us some food while I put our stuff down? How does that sound?" Sano really didn't like standing in lines, and had found an easy way out of it. Now, if only Kenshin said yes.

"But this one has no money, so how do you expect him to pay for the food? And he doesn't know what you want." Kenshin protested. Sano dug out some change and told him to get anything but the fruit cups. Kenshin sighed. He might as well. Taking off his bag, he handed the single strap it to Sano and went to stand in line.

"Man, this thing is heavy. What the hell is he carrying in here, bricks? And and how is he holding it in one hand anyway?" Sano muttered under his breath as he staggered to a table in the far corner. He got there in time to turn towards Kenshin and see someone throw a plastic knife at someone else. He grimaced, watching Kenshin get caught in the middle. The teen would be screwed before he got a chance to eat.

He didn't have time for another thought before a boy by the pasta grabbed the metal spoon to throw it at the kid who had chucked the knife at him. But it veered off course and was headed straight for Kenshin.

"Aw, shit. There goes my lunch." He muttered, but watched in amazement as Kenshin easily ducked the UFO coming at him from behind. The spoon hit the glass case in front of him, which shattered. Kenshin ignored it and walked on, pausing by the cookies and grabbing a few.

While he was slowly counting out exact change, one of the teachers grabbed him by the shoulder, a crazed look in his eyes.

"DidDo you know who threw the ladle at you?' He asked in a hushed, hurried voice. Kenshin didn't say a word. All he did was gesture at the guilty boy over his shoulder , pay, and walk towards Sano, who, having had been joined be Kaoru and Megumi while Kenshin was busy, was staring.

"Is this good Sano? This one didn't know what you wanted, so he grabbed a little of everything but the fruit." Kenshin was easily carrying a platter in one hand. On top of the tray were two plates of pasta, six or seven cookies, two drinks, two ice creams, a salad, and two bags of chips. In one hand. Sano had to double check, just in case he was imagining things. That guy had managed to duck with all this in hand? Not possible.

"Yeah, I think it's enough to feed all of us, not just us two" Sano was gazing at the short teen with a question in his eyes. "Uh, how did you dodge that spoon?" the two girls nodded in synch. Kenshin looked confused. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. Comprehension dawned on his face.

"Oh, the spoon? Uh…well….um….This one heard it?" He tried this excuse out. This was beginning to be a very trying day, and Kenshin wondered why he left the army, or why he chose this particular high school. Well, yes, California was a long way away from the main government, but they most likely already knew where he was. They're probably just devising a plan to get him back. They don't want their precious killing machine to get away. He snorted in disgust.

"You know, I think this is the strangest first day in the history of first days." Kaoru muttered under her breath as she and her friends watched the unusual boy in front of them become more and more agitated by the second. He was glaring off into the distance, his eyes flashing between amber and indigo, his mouth working its way into a small scowl. Then, as suddenly as it started, ithe stopped. His face returned to normal, and his eyes settled on indigo. For now at least.

"Sorry, this one spaced off for a moment. Here's the food." He handed the tray to Sano, who almost dropped it. That boy made it look to easy. He thought, setting the heavily laden try on the table and un-stacking it. The pasta was passed around after Kaoru fetched two more plates until everyone had some. The cookies were handed off, one to each person, then an extra for Kenshin and Sano. Kaoru and Megumi declined the second cookie. The soda was split up as well. Kenshin had been smart enough to grab extra cups, though Kaoru had to fetch more silverware for the pasta. The ice creams went to the guys, as the girls had also declined those as well.

"What are you two doing? Going on a diet?" Sano asked, roughly stuffing a cookie in his mouth. Kenshin chuckled at this, then sampled his own food.

"This stuff is good!" He exclaimed, drawing weird stares from those around him.

"Have you never eaten before? The cafeteria food is the worst in the world. They have no idea how too cook, and those that do are worse then me! And their taste in flavors sucks. How can you say the cafeteria food is GOOD?" Kaoru asked in a derisive tone.

_'If this food is the worst in the world, then they have never tried army rations. You haven't had bad food until you're out in the field and have to live off the freeze dried junk they give you. Now that stuffs nasty.' _Kenshin thought to himself, nibbling on another cookie. "Well, this one still thinks it tastes good. It is better then this one is used to." With this said, Kenshin fell silent.

"Just what are you used to then?" Kaoru asked, apprehension lacing her voice. Kenshin shrugged. He had no intention of answering her. They finished their food in silence, until Kenshin asked a question.

"Where are Misao and Yahiko? This one thought they would eat with you three." The three in question shook their heads.

"Misao is probably draping herself all over Aoshi, and Yahiko wouldn't be caught dead at the same table as me anyway. He needs to get a better reputation then the one he had in middle school. For all I know, he's probably sitting with those seniors over there, pretending to be enraptured by anything they're saying. Rather stupid if you ask me, but whatever. It's his life, not mine." Kaoru told Kenshin. Kenshin looked around, wondering who this Aoshi person was. The name sounded familiar. Then, thinking about names, Kenshin turned to Sano, dread filling him..

"What did you say your last name was again, Sano?" He asked, praying to god it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Sagara. Why?" Sano watched as Kenshin's face drained of blood. Sagara. No, it couldn't be.

"Your father was Sozo Sagara? The one they say was killed by the battosai five years ago?" he hoped to the high heavens it was a different Sagara. He was out of luck.

"Yeah, my father was Sozo Sagara. And yes, he was killed by the battosai five years ago. And if I ever get my hands on him, that guys dead. I swear." Sano pounded his fists together, almost missing whatever it was Kenshin had muttered.

"I'm so sorry Sano. You don't know how sorry I am." His eyes were half lidded, and his face was pale.

"Don't be. It's not like it was your fault. No need to be sorry." Kenshin began to laugh, a cold, humorless laugh that chilled Sano, Kaoru, and Megumi to the bone.

"Don't be too sure of that." He whispered, too quiet for anyone to hear. He got silently to his feet and went to throw his trash away. The other three just watched him go.

"He has more secrets then the popea government official, doesn't he? I wonder why he has so many." Megumi thought out loud. Though it was only the first day, they had met a very peculiar person who seemed like he was more than anyone had ever believed.

Sano got up and chased after Kenshin, yelling over his shoulder,

"See ya seventh!" before running after the moody teen. He wanted some answers. Said teen was standing outside the lunch room, his back against the white-washed walls. He looked like he was depressed.

_'I killed Sano's father. Me. I'm the one he wants to kill. Oh I god. I knew I would run into this one day. I just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. And this is still only the first day of school. I'm just dreading the rest of the week. _Kenshin was shook, forcefully, out of his thoughts be a rough hand. He looked up into the serious eyes of Sanosuke.

"Here, you forgot this." He handed Kenshin his backpack, straining to not drop it, though he was making an effort to hold it in one hand. Kenshin took it back, surreptitiously searching it be hand to make sure it hadn't been opened. "Now, what was that whole thing about my father?" Kenshin sighed, and opened his mouth to tell Sano something that would change his whole view on life. Then the bell rang. Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he had time to make up a decent excuse. Sano gave him a look that told him he wasn't off the hook yet, but led him to his next class, science.

They didn't do much. The chemistry teacher took role, but since Kenshin had already been to four classes, all he had to do was answer up when his name was called. He leaned back on the stool, forgetting the fact that he was supposed to be an ordinary teenager, not one with extreme physical abilities.and mental states. And he didn't notice all the odd looks he drew from the rest of the class, for he was only sitting on one leg of the stool, much like a monkey, but with more grace. Sano just dismissed it as another part of Kenshin, who was slowly revealing himself to be a many-faceted piece of work.

_'You know, you could always tell him the truth.' _Kenshin had taken to discuss the predicament with voice. He didn't care if people thought he was crazy. He seriously needed help, and Voice sounded at least partly logical, even if Kenshin didn't like some of the replies he got.

_'Oh yes, and get not only kicked out of the school, but probably beaten to death and dragged to the government in a body bag. Yes, that's a REAL good idea.'_ _'What? It was only a suggestion. I didn't mean it literally. God, you're way too to serious for your own good. You need to lighten up a little."_ Voice was teasing Kenshin, who didn't seem to appreciate it one bit.

_'Any other bright ideas, you little pest?' _Kenshin asked sarcastically, mentally waving a hand around and into a bow. Voice took on a haughty tone. _'Well, if you really wanted to get out of it completely, you could take that pretty sword out of your bag and kill everyone. Then the problem would be solved.' _Kenshin slammed the metaphysical door between him and the voice shut and locking it. He was pretty sure it wouldn't take the voice long to figure out how to get out of it, but hey, it was worth a try. The voice didn't sound logical anymore. Now it just sounded crazy.

Kenshin dragged his thoughts back to reality, and watched as the teacher, Mr. Okina, the schedule had said, hand out a packet full of information, along with pictures of pretty girls. Apparently, they had a perverted science teacher. Great, just great. Just what they needed. Another mental teacher. Kenshin jumped off the stool when the bell rang, and walked out of class, Sano trailing along behind him. Sano had resolved to ask what Kenshin had been talking about at lunch after school.

Their next class, one that Kenshin had never heard of before, much less knew that it could be taught in school, was the class devoted to fighting techniques. It didn't teach them, but it studied them in depth. Kenshin thought he might actually enjoy this class. It looked pretty interesting. The teacher appeared to be a very tall man, his white cape billowing around him, long black hair streaming down his back. Kenshin had a funny feeling he knew the man from somewhere. The name on the schedule, Thyman Shiko, was unfamiliar, but still, he had that feeling. He knew who it was as soon as the man turned around.

"Master Hiko!" he whispered incredulously. The man, Mr. Shiko, as the name tag said, gave Kenshin a smirk before turning as the other students filed in. Misao and Yahiko were there, but Kaoru and Megumi had decided against this class and took something else. As he began to call roll, he stopped at one name in particular.

"Himura, Kenshin?" He called out, his eyes landing on the red head. Yahiko and Sano watched something pass between the two of them the instant they locked eyes, though what is was, Sano could never guess.

"Here." He raised his hand, a smirk identical to the teachers etched on his face. Sano stared. Kenshin, smirking? That can't be right. I didn't think he was capable of doing anything other then smile or stare dangerously off into the distance. Well, anyone can change, even if it is in the blink of an eye.

The teacher finished roll. "Ok, it seems as if everyone is here. My one and only rule is this. Do anything to anger me, and you won't know what hit you. Literally." Kenshin smirked and rolled his eyes. _'Same old master Hiko. I'm going to have to ask him why he started teaching at a school. He never did like people.'_ Kenshin's mood had cleared the instant he walked into the room. He knew this guy, and what he was like. It was unlikely that his former master would tell anyone anything about him.

"Ok, this semester we are going to be studying the Japanese style of fighting, including different sword techniques, ninja's, and martial arts. If anyone has any questions, ask me after class. I…dislike interruptions." Kenshin snorted. Dislike was an understatement. Whenever he had interrupted, he had gotten hit upside the head, usually with something sharp and pointy.

"I also dislike smart ass comments, so if you have any, leave them in the hallway. I guarantee they'll still be there when you leave. Now, I'm going to hand out a packet. The first thing we are going to learn about are swords. If anyone knows anything, stand up. Don't be shy. Even if you only saw it on TV." Almost half the class, including Kenshin, Sano, Yahiko, and a boy sitting on the other side of Misao, stood up. Hiko smirked.

'So, my former pupil has the guts to actually stand up. How amazing. He even has a smirk on. Now, to cut him down to size.' Hiko was following Kenshin with his eyes, noticing the scar in his cheek and a look about him that told the whole story. 'Kenshin has been through a lot since he left me seven years ago. And still, he's the same idiot apprentice.' Hiko smirked, Kenshin did the same. Sano noticed how their eyes followed each other.

"Those who know any particular style, or anything special about swords, stay standing. The rest sit down." Kenshin, Yahiko, and the boy by Misao remained upright. The rest sat, muttering. "So, only three. I was expecting a few more then that, but, hey, whatever. The three of you. Give me your names, if I don't already know them, and what you know about swords in a brief summary. Starting with you on the end. Aoshi Shinomori."

"I learned about swords in Japan. The Katana, the Kodochi, and the wakizashi. They are the three commonly used blades. Samurai used to carry two swords, one their preference, the other a wakizashi. I was taught a little during the few years I lived their, in the dual kodachi style. That is about it. May I sit now?" He asked. Hiko nodded. The boy, Aoshi, returned to his seat, his dark eyes gleaming in the light. Yahiko was next.

"My name is Yahiko Myojin. I study swords at a dojo near the middle of the city. The Kamiya Kashin style. It's a style that was created by a samurai in Japan hundreds of years ago, as a way not to kill. The style was passed down through Kaoru's family, who taught it. We usually use bokatos, or shinais, but never real swords." Yahiko sat down. Kenshin was next in the line of three. He looked happy for some reason, but for what, Sano couldn't guess. His face was a mask of emotion that it made it hard to read.

"Well, and how about you, Kenshin? You got anything?" Hiko smirked. Kenshin smirked. All he said was one word, but that was enough.

"Master." And sat back down. The teacher grinned at him, and wrote something by his name. No one had any idea what he meant by, 'Master' and no one could guess. So they just sat and stared at the two, like they were aliens in a melting pot. Though it didn't seem too far fetched to Sano.

"Ok, class. We re going to begin by reading the handout I gave you and answering the questions in the back. This is due by tomorrow. All the answers are in the packet, so read it. And if I catch anyone talking, they're going to be giving me a hundred pushups for insolence. Begin." Hiko turned away from the class and sat down, back facing them, as they started their way through the difficult questions.

"I don't get it. What does is mean, 'What is the difference between Katsujin-ken and Satsujin-ken. What do those words mean any way?" A boy in front of Kenshin whispered to his neighbor. Kenshin shook his head. The poor boy was done for. He was lucky he only had to do a hundred. Master Hiko always made him do as many as it took until the sun went down. That could climb into the thousands.

"Boy two rows behind me, three seats over. Come to the front of the room now." Kenshin smiled. Just like his old master. The boy got shakily to his feet and walked to the front of the room, trembling as he stood behind the teacher's chair. "A hundred push ups. Now. The rest of you, take this as a warning." When the boy just stood there, gaping at the back of the teacher's head, Hiko whipped around.

"I said, a hundred push ups. Now. Would you like me to double it for you?" He asked, an a sweet tone of voice that deceived no one. The boy shook his head. "Good. Now, if I were you, I would get down and do the push ups. Wouldn't you?" The boy nodded, and got onto the floor, straining to push himself up just once. Though it might have been helped if Hiko hadn't placed a large textbook on the boy's back.

"Disgraceful. I wonder what your football coach would say if he saw you. Kenshin, get down here and show this boy how to do real push ups." Kenshin's head jerked up, surprise clearly on his face.

"But…but sir! Why?" Hiko gave him a look that froze Sano's bones. Sano figured Kenshin might as well get up, before the mental teacher killed him.

"Do you really expect me to show him?" He asked, derision in his voice. "Well? Get your but down here and demonstrate for him." Kenshin reluctantly stood up. Sano snickered. Kenshin, doing push ups? Someone else was, apparently, thinking along these same lines.

"Him? Doing push-ups? He looks to weak to even lift his back pack up, let alone to push-ups!" A kid in the back of the class called. He was assigned push ups after school.

His back pack. Sano shot a look at it as Kenshin sullenly walked to the front of the room, muttering to himself about self-important, egotistical masters. Hiko smirked.

"Did you saw something, Kenshin?" He asked, a pleasant look on his face. Kenshin shook his head. "That's what I thought. Now, get down and show the boy how to do some real push-ups. Hear, I'll even be nice to you." He placed three thick text books on the teens back.

"If that's him being nice, then I'd hate to see him when he's not being nice." Yahiko muttered to Sano as they watched the spectacle unfold. Kenshin shot the teacher a look of utter complacency and began to do his push ups. The whole class stared.

Kenshin was fast, was the first thought that came to Sano's mind. He was flying though the pushup's as if they were nothing, making Sano wonder where he had gotten the strength from. As he flew through a hundred of them, the teacher put his feet on his student's back, resting on top of the text books. Yahiko could swear he heard the teen growl at the teacher. When he was done, which didn't take long, Kenshin stood up, shoving Hiko's feet off his back as he did so.

"There, happy now Master?" he added the last part in an undertone. Hiko smirked. He took the text books from Kenshin and gestured the boy back to his seat, then looked at the boy lying at his feet.

"Here, I'll make you a deal. If you can do just as many as Kenshin did, with the same amount of weight, I won't ever make you do push ups again. But, you have to finish by the end of class. If you don't you have to come back to class at the end of the day and finish them, with twice the weight. And I'll still give you push ups. Have we got a deal?" The boy looked at the clock. They had thirty minutes left in class. He nodded. Hiko looked at Kenshin.

"So Kenshin. How many did you do. Be honest." Kenshin shrugged.

"This one lost count around 175. Sorry sir." The boy on the floor paled considerably. Hiko smirked.

"You heard him. 175. Get started." With this said, Hiko turned back towards his desk as the boy, his name was Gohei Hiruma, started on the pushups, three heavy books on his back. In his mind, revenge was formulating.

The class sat in wary awe of both Hiko and Kenshin. When one boy raised his hand, the teacher let out a sigh.

"What do you want Mr. Mitchel. Make it quick." The boy, Mitchel, gulped, as if asking for a death sentence. "I said answer me."

"Ca-can I go to the restroom Mr. Shiko, sir." Mitchel stammered out. Hiko raised his head from his papers and turned to face his students. Gohei was still doing pushups. Every so often, you could here a number.

"Be back in five minutes. Go." He turned back to his desk.

"One…hundred….and one……one hundred and……two…..one hundred……and….three" was heard from the floor. Kenshin sighed in pity. He really didn't mean to do that many, but his master was just an evil, conceited man anyway. Unfortunately, the bell rang, and Gohei was still seventy short of the number Kenshin did in less than four minutes.

"Ah, too bad. You didn't make it. Pity on you. Well, see you after school! Bye now!" Hiko said cheerfully to Gohei. Kenshin turned to Sano and Yahiko, as Misao and followed her crush out as soon as the bell had rung.

"Wait for this one outside, by his locker. He will meet you there in a couple of minutes. If this one is not there in two minutes, head on to the next class." Without waiting for a reply, Kenshin headed straight up to the teacher.

"I have a strange feeling that those two know each other. I don't know why, but they do, somehow." Yahiko was scratching his head in confusion. Sano sighed. The clues were so obvious.

Back in the deserted classroom, Kenshin faced his old master for the first time in seven years. It was good to know that not much had changed.

"So Master, why are you, of all people, teaching in a high school? This one thought that you hated people." Kenshin asked. Hiko laughed.

"Because, I knew that, when you finally saw your mistakes and left the army, you would go somewhere as far away as possible. So I trailed you for a couple days, saw where you were going, and decided to teach there, introducing a new class and maybe have the chance at watching my idiot apprentice struggle through high school. And besides, my talent shows in anything I do." Hiko ran a hand through his long black hair.

"Just as conceited as usual." Kenshin muttered under his breath. The stars winking around said arrogant man went out.

"No need to say that, even if it is true. Anyways, I noticed that your friend, Mr. Sanosuke, he's the former head of the NIA's son. How long do you think you can hide things from people, Kenshin? One of these days, someone's going to find out. Then what are you going to do? The government already knows you're here by now, and you can't stop running just to protect people. Soon, you're going to have to face all that you've done with a clear mind." Hiko heard Kenshin snort.

"This one? A clear mind? He can't seem to get rid of an annoying, nagging voice in the back of his head." Kenshin laughed. "Well, this one needs to get to class, before Sano and the others come looking for him. They have a weird habit of watching him all the time. See you later Master Hiko!" Kenshin walked out the door, his master's eyes on him.

'That boy has grown in different ways since I last saw him, but his mind is still that of a twelve year old child, only now it is laden with grief, sorrow, and the horror of what he has done.' Hiko thought to himself, preparing for his next class. Despite the fact that he wasn't a people person, he was dealing quite well with the kids, and even enjoyed torturing…uh...tutoring the students. He had managed to scare all of his classes today, and at least one student in each class had push ups to do. Well, one more class to go! He turned and started prepping.

Kenshin walked out eh door, running head first into Sano, who was joined by Yahiko, Kaoru, Megumi, Aoshi, and Misao, who was hanging all over Aoshi. The boy looked uncomfortable, but he couldn't shake the overly cheerful girl off.

"Have you been there the entire time?" Kenshin asked warily. Sano shook his head.

"No, we just got here. It's been two minutes already, and our class is right next door, so I thought I'd catch you before you left. Anyway, we'd better get going. The art teacher's crazy, I hear." The seven of them walked into the class next to Hiko's and took a seat. The teacher looked like a very pretty young lady.

"Hello everyone, my name is Mr. Kamatari. We are going to be learning the basics of art and some history. I will call role, then go over the rules and requirements of my class." The teacher announced. Everyone's jaw dropped.

"That person….IS A GUY?" Misao whispered, dumbstruck. "There's no way a guy can be that pretty." She had just voiced the entire class's opinion, unfortunately in the teachers hearing.

"Would you like some proof?" He asked, innocently enough. All the girls in the class violently shook their heads.

"NO WAY! NO FLASHING ALLOWED IN SCHOOL PERVERT!" a girl in the front of the room yelled, her face bright red. Kamatari laughed.

"Ah, so I'm a pervert on the first day of school, eh? Well, no matter. You aren't the first to call me that in any case. Well, now. Why don't we get started handing out the papers?" Kenshin drifted off into a waking sleep while the teacher droned on and on about what they were supposed to do in art. His mind drifted back to how he would explain to Sanosuke about his father. In his desperation, he opened the metaphysical door, reluctantly, and let the annoying voice back in to his conscious thoughts.

_'Ah, so you finally decided to let me back in. About time too. I was starting to get bored.' _The voice sounded irritated just a bit. Kenshin laughed inwardly.

_'Well, you deserved it. Now, do you have any plausible, non killing ideas on how to tell Sanosuke?' _ Kenshin asked. Voice harrumphed.

_'I stick to my first plan. Tell him the truth.' 'Oh, yes, that's a great idea. Any others?' _Kenshin's voice was dripping with suppressed sarcasm. _'Uh, well, you could lie.' 'Yes, I know that already, but what do I tell him?' 'Well, just say you heard it on the news, or some other such nonsense like that. Oh, and by the way, next time you see Hiko, tell him his former student said hello. And I don't mean you. Tell him Shinta said hi. The one he trained for four and a half years.' _Kenshin sat straight up.

_'So, you're saying that YOU are ME?' _Kenshin was confused, as was the par for him in any situation. The voice sighed. _'Isn't that what I said? Anyway, it's not from me. It's from the other, fainter, voice that lives in you. He doesn't come out very often though.' _Kenshin sighed. This whole thing was going straight over his head. At least before he didn't have to deal with pesky voices.

He sat and stared off into space for the remainder of the class, only looking up when Mr. Kamatari, he was never going to get used to that, handed him a paper, which he shoved in his bag and resumed staring off into space. Sano had to shake him back to reality when the bell rang.

"Come ON weirdo. School's over. We get to go home now!" Sano yelled in his friend's ear.

"Home? Now? Schools over?" Kenshin repeated dimly, then his face lit up. "OH! School's out! Come on! Let's go!" With this said, he raced out the door, stopping short and causing Sano and Yahiko to run into him. He stood unmovable, his face full of suppressed laughter.

"Huh? What's going on?" Sano and Yahiko peered around Kenshin. When they saw the spectacle, they couldn't stop laughing.

In front of them, a pleasantly cheerful Hiko Seijuro, known to his students as Mr. Shiko, was dragging not only Gohei, but five other boys along behind him as well.

"Didn't I tell you six to come to my class after school ended? It would have saved me the trouble of tracking you down. Come on, the other kid is waiting in the classroom. You five have a hundred push ups to complete, and you're going to stay until you finish all of them. Got it?" Hiko was whistling cheerfully while the three guys, as well as numerous other students, were laughing, watching the teens being dragged along to do punishment no one should have to suffer in school. Maybe in military camp, but not school.

"Oh, this one needed to tell Master Hiko something. Be right back!" Kenshin ran for the slowly shutting door next to the room Sano was in.

"Huh? Who's master Hiko?" Kaoru asked, coming up behind the two boys at the door. They shook their heads.

"No idea. I guess we'll just wait until he gets back. Hope he's not too late. I have to be home by four, and it's already two thirty. Hurry up Kenshin."

Kenshin ran for the slowly closing door and slipped inside. "Uh, sir? This one has something to tell you." Hiko looked up from watching his students do push ups into Kenshin's face.

"Well, what is it Kenshin?" He asked. Gohei looked up at the standing teen, surprise written all over his face. When their eyes met, Kenshin could see hatred forming. "Have you come to tell me you mean to show these weaklings how to do real push ups?" Gohei froze at the sound of Hiko's voice.

"No. This one is merely passing on a message."

"AH, have you finally become so low as to take messages to people?" Hiko asked, his voice amused. Kenshin shook his head.

"This one is sure that if the person could deliver it, he would. But, unfortunately, that isn't possible. So this one is to bring the message."

"Well, get on with it." Hiko said impatiently.

"Shinta says hi. That's the message. And before you ask how this one knows, he will explain it later. Bye!" Kenshin dashed out of the room, back pack swinging, and went to rejoin his friends. Hiko stared after him.

'Shinta. Been a long time since I heard that name. Well, I'll ask my idiot apprentice later.' He looked down at the floor where the six boys were groaning and straining to do the push ups, all with a textbook or two, or in Gohei's case six, on their back. He chuckled. How he missed doing this to Kenshin. These boys had it easy anyway.

Kenshin caught up with his friends, and the seven of them walked outside. Aoshi split from the group, heading over to the buses. He waved goodbye over his shoulder.

"BYE AOSHI! I'LL MISS YOU!" Misao yelled back. Aoshi's head drooped while Kaoru and Megumi laughed.

"What's so funny? I mean, it's not like he doesn't like me or whatever." Misao protested. Kaoru and Megumi just shook their heads.

"Hey, Kenshin. I meant to ask you something. Like what happened earlier today, outside the cafeteria. What was that all about?" Sano looked at Kenshin, who was staring at the ground. "Well?" Sano prodded. Kenshin looked into Sano's face, his eyes blank.

"This one heard about it one the news. This one is sorry for earlier, it just surprised him. That's all." Kenshin forced a smile onto his face. Sano sighed.

"Oh, okay. One more question. Why is your back pack so heavy?" His face took on an innocent expression as Yahiko looked on. Kaoru and Megumi were on their own little world, discussing homework. Kenshin shrank back.

"Well, this one has yet to find a place to stay, and since no one he knows lives in the area, all of his stuff is in the bag." Kenshin said slowly, and Kaoru's head whipped around.

"You don't have a place to stay? How long have you been in California anyway?" She asked incredulously. Kenshin shook his head, the held up a hand and started counting.

"Uh, only two days, Miss Kaoru." He said sheepishly. They all stared, dumbstruck.

"So, where were you before?" Yahiko asked curiously. Kenshin seriously thought about not telling them, but what harm could there be in telling the truth.

"Washington D.C." Kaoru looked at him suspiciously.

"Fine, so how did you get all the way to California from Washington D.C. if you have no relatives here? And why here anyway?" Kenshin paled a little. He highly doubted they would believe him if he told them he walked the whole way, so he just shrugged and lied.

"This one took a plane. He came to visit an old friend, and to get away from the government, but the old friend had died, so he just stayed here. This one had nowhere else to go anyway." Kenshin explained. They all nodded.

"But why don't you have anywhere to stay? I mean, didn't your parents give you money to rent an apartment or something?" Kenshin looked down at the ground, which was slowly moving under their feet.

"This one doesn't have any parents." He muttered. "They died when this one was little."

"Oh, I'm sorry Kenshin. I didn't know." Kaoru's face drooped, then suddenly brightened. "I have an idea! You can stay with Yahiko and me! We're orphans, and can use all the help we can get! How about it?" Kaoru looked expectantly at Kenshin. He considered it, but before he could give an answer, Yahiko butted in.

"Yeah! And you can help us with our chores! Like washing the dojo, or cooking, since I can't and Kaoru sucks at it!" Yahiko was whacked upside the head.

"So, how about it?" She was holding the large textbook menacingly in her hand, Yahiko on the ground swirly eyed, with a cheerful expression on her face, though her eye twitched. Kenshin nodded reluctantly. "GREAT! And by the way, Yahiko, Cleaning the Dojo helps you with your training. So deal with it." Kaoru walked off, dragging Yahiko behind her. She turned for just a moment to wave goodbye to Misao as the freshman split and headed downtown.

"Well, I'd better get going too. I have to get homework done so I can get to my job." Megumi said.

"Oh, you work? Where?" Kaoru asked, stopping to wait for them to catch up.

"I work in the local pharmacy, stocking the shelves. I want to be a doctor when I grow up anyway, so this helps! BYE!" Megumi waved to them and ran off, her blue shirt sparkling. Sano left as well, saying he'd stop by the dojo later, to check up on them and to make sure Kaoru hadn't murdered Kenshin yet. The boy was so weak willed sometimes.

"AH, we're here! Home sweet home!" Kaoru announced after a few more minutes of walking. Kenshin looked up at the building. It was an older structure, a house with a small Japanese building of some sort attached to the side. It looked like a dojo. The house was two stories, small, but decent. A covered walkway ran from the dojo to the house, and then to a small building on the other side of the house.

"Hey, Yahiko! Go run and fetch the hand brushes from the shed! We have work to do!" Yahiko managed to look indignant.

"BUT I HAVE HOMEWORK! WHY DON'T YOU GO GET THEM YOURSELF UGLY?" He yelled at her. Kenshin winced. From what he'd seen, Yahiko was in major trouble. He was right. Kaoru's face grew red, and, as she dashed for the dojo only a couple meters away, Yahiko ran for the house. They each emerged with some sort of sword. Kaoru had a wooden one, where as Yahiko only had a bamboo bokato. Kenshin could easily see who was going to win. Yahiko was no match for Kaoru, but he did manage to get in a few whacks.

"Do you think you're going to be able to beat me like that, you pipsqueak?" Kaoru screeched at Yahiko.

"What do ya think Ugly?" Yahiko yelled back at her. Kaoru dealt him a swift blow to the head, and the boy fell to the ground, swirly eyed once more. Kenshin backed up as she turned her gaze on him.

"Um, hehe, this one is going….inside. Bye!" Kenshin backed up swiftly, towards the house. The he turned and ran, his bag over his shoulder. Koru ran after him, yelling,

"HEY! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO STAY! HEY! WAIT!" Kenshin skidded to a stop.

"Oh, um….hehe, then this one guesses you might want to show him." He said sheepishly, hand behind his head, face red. Kaoru caught up with him, dragged him inside and up the stairs to a room off to the left of the bathroom.

"You can have this room. It used to be my parents room, but since they died, I guess this room needs to be used for something. You can put what clothes you have into the dresser over there. Don't mess with the drawers on the desk until I can, please?" Kaoru looked at him, her face beseeching. Kenshin nodded. She breathed in relief, then left it to him.

Kenshin took a look around the room. It was decent sized, with a small closet off to the right and a bed to the left. The dresser which Kaoru had spoke of was next to the bed, and the desk was by the closet. He sighed, and began to unpack. He set the many books he had gotten that day on top of the desk, along with homework papers and notebooks. Then he dug down until he reached a smaller bag and pulled it out. It contained the money he had left, which was quite a bit, considering.

Digging into the bag again, he pulled out a long, metal sheath which contained a sword he had received from an old friend a long time ago. He drew the blade, cautious in case anyone was standing outside the door. It was a sakabato, a sword in which the blade- and dull-edge were reversed, since he had sworn off killing after he left the army. This blade was sufficient to protect him if necessary, but he didn't want to kill anymore. He refused to.

Putting the sword back into the bag, he pulled out the spare change of clothes and held it up to the light. There were small holes in them, and they were ragged and thread bare. Kaoru walked in at that moment and saw them.

"Are those your only set of clothes?" She asked, aghast. He nodded. "Then we need to go shopping. I'll grab Yahiko and we'll leave right away. We can't have you in those tomorrow. They are disgusting. Worse then my workout clothes." She ran out the door while Kenshin was left with a protest on his left and his hand outstretched. It was useless to protest against a girl with her mind on something. He reluctantly gathered up the money he had, the back pack, for he wasn't going anywhere without the word, and set the worn out clothes on the dresser, leaving the room silent and dark.

"Kaoru, do I have to come? I have homework!" Yahiko yelled up the stairs, math book in hand as he sat at the little table in the kitchen.

"FINE! STAY HOME! But take a message from anyone who calls! And don't open the door to strangers!" Kaoru yelled back, running out of a room down the hall, hair in hand and a pony sitting in her mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. God, you'd think I was still a baby, the way she treats me." Yahiko muttered under his breath. Kenshin just smiled. These two were a pretty good family together. He just hoped he wouldn't ruin it.

The car, as it was aptly named, had been parked around the side of the house, invisible from the street. Kaoru climbed into the drivers seat, purse in hand, as Kenshin sat in the passenger seat.

"Why are you bringing your bag?" Kaoru asked, pointing towards the blue back gym bag slung over his shoulder. Kenshin just shrugged.

"Just because. It has something that this one needs anyway, so what better place to carry it?" Kaoru looked at him questioningly, but let it slide. Kenshin was too weird to fathom anyway. The way he was looking around all the time, like he expected them to be attacked at any moment. Made a girl wonder sometimes.

They arrived at a large mall with a neon sign flashing **'THE MALL' **on the front.

"Not very original, is it?" Kaoru commented as they walked to the front entrance. Kenshin sighed. He disliked shopping malls. As it turned out, Kenshin bought a few outfits for himself, then spent the rest of the trip watching as the teenaged girl mooned over this, or that, or another thing. He ended up with all the bags, and he staggered as they went to the food court.

"Man, I'm parched. How about you Kenshin? You hungry?" Kaoru turned to the shopping bag rack standing behind her.

"Y-sh-th-ne-oul-ike-a-ink" was heard from somewhere underneath the many bags.

"What did you say?" Kaoru asked again, removing the back in front of his face.

"Yes, this one would like a drink." He repeated, breathless. He had thought Master Hiko's training was hard. Nothing was hard until you went shopping with a teenaged girl. That was a nightmare. Kenshin found a table and set the bags down, whipping sweat off his brow. Another man happened to pass by, following a woman. He too was carrying bags.

"Ah, so it seems I'm not the only one who was roped into this torture." The man remarked, sitting down at the neighboring table. "Though you worse off then I do. Who you shopping with, a teenager?" He asked.. Kenshin nodded resignedly. The man laughed.

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Maekawa Miyauchi. I run a dojo in the middle of the city. It's quite popular. Have you heard of it?" he asked, looking at Kenshin expectantly.

"No. Though the name is Kenshin Himura. This one is staying With Kaoru at the moment. This one just arrived in San Francisco. AH, there she is now!" Kaoru walked up to the table, then did a double take when she saw who was sitting at the table over.

"Maekawa Sensei? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Kaoru asked, looking happy at the sight of the man. He laughed.

"Ah, the famous kenjustu princess! When are you coming down to help? The students really miss you!"

"This Saturday, I hope. And I'll probably drag Yahiko along as well. Wanna come Kenshin?" She asked, turning to the teen.

"Sure, why not. It would be fun to see how you practice kendo in today's world."

"Uh, is that supposed to mean anything Kenshin?" Kaoru asked. Kenshin frantically shook his head. "Fine then, I'll just go grab some food." Kaoru stalked off. The teen let out a strangled gasp.

"Teenage girls are scary." He muttered.

"Couldn't agree with you more. Hey, do you practice swords?" Kenshin turned and looked at Maekawa. He didn't look suspicious, and Kaoru knew him, so there was no real harm.

"A little, here and there. I pick things up every so often." So it wasn't really the truth, but it wasn't necessarily lying. _'Yeah, just keep telling yourself that. You might actually believe it one day too.'_ Kenshin didn't even bother replying, just sent the thick metaphysical door slamming shut with a reverberating clang as his answer. The two guys chatted for a while, touching on a few different subjects until their respective counterparts came back with food.

"So, see you Saturday Kenshin?" the teen nodded. "OK! I hope I get to have a match with you, see how much of the sword arts you picked up here and there. Talk to you later! Bye Kaoru!" Maekawa turned to his wife, a slim, robust woman with a head of gold hair about to the middle of her back.

"Have a good time talking with Maekawa sensei? He's a really nice man, once you get to know him." Kaoru commented, more to herself then to anyone else. They ate the food in relative silence, until Kaoru interrupted.

"AW SHIT! We have to get beck to the house! It's almost time for lessons and I still haven't done my homework! Aw man!" Kaoru hurriedly shoved the rest of the food in her mouth, handed Kenshin the bags, and raced to the car. She opened the truck for Kenshin, then threw herself into the front seat, yelling at Kenshin to get in. He did so, slamming the trunk and almost having to race to shut the door as Kaoru took off like a rocket.

"Miss Kaoru, this one thinks we are breaking the speed limit!" Kenshin yelled over the roar of the car. Kaoru gave him a look, so he shut up and prayed that they wouldn't run into any policemen.

Thankfully, they didn't, and arrived home with ten minutes to spare. Kaoru parked the small BMW around the side of the house again, and then raced indoors, leaving Kenshin to carry the bags in.

"Where did you two go, the mall?" Yahiko asked, eyes wide as Kenshin staggered in, straining under the parcels.

"Yes, and this one never wants to go back, not with a teenage girl. They buy too much. All this one bought was one bag, ONE BAG! The rest are all hers! How can girls buy that much anyway?" Kenshin sagged to the floor, bringing the gym bag he had faithfully held on to clattering to the floor with him.

"SO, Kaoru's working you to the bone and it's only your first day here." Sano remarked, walking in unannounced. He was carrying his backpack slung over his shoulder. When Yahiko looked at it, Sano just shrugged,

"Thought I could come over here to get some homework done, bug Kenshin a little on Mr. Shiko's packet thing, and take a look at that paper he wrote in English. Well, how about it?" Sano looked over at Kenshin, who was leaning against a chair, propping himself up with the corner of his bag. He nodded wearily. "Great! Then why don't we get started!" Pulled Kenshin up by his arm, slung it over his head, and helped the tired teen walk up the stairs to the second floor, and his room.

"Never go shopping with a teenaged girl. Never, IF you want to live that is." Kenshin muttered under his breath. He caught his breath, then walked over to the desk and pulled out the homework he had left, along with the paper for English. The two of them sat on the floor and took out the packets Hiko had assigned for them to do.

"So, Kenshin, what is the difference between Satsujin-ken and Katsujin-ken?" Sano asked, looked confused at the packet.

"Satsujin-ken is the art of killing, swords used for the express purpose of slaying your opponent. Katsujin-ken is the art of conquering your opponent without killing. Miss Kaoru teaches the second one." Kenshin replied, not even looking at the packet or Sano, instead concentrating on the current event he had to do. Finally, he just wrote down a few paragraphs and hoped that was all the teacher wanted.

"And you know this how?" Sano asked, pointing to the packet that clearly wasn't in Kenshin's hands. Kenshin shrugged.

"Picked it up somewhere." He turned back to the paper in his hands. It was the one Voice had written and Kenshin had yet to read. He turned his attention inward. _'Hey annoyance. Is this paper you wrote appropriate for school?'_ Kenshin asked suspiciously. _'Of course it is numbskull. I wrote it'_ Kenshin sighed. _'That's what worries me.' 'You'll never trust me, will you?'_ it was more of a statement then a question. Kenshin had yet to figure out a way to threaten a metaphysical voice. It couldn't be killed, nor could you physically hurt it. So what were you supposed to go? Kenshin shrugged it off, turned to the essay, and began to read.

The stars were out, the moon high in the night sky. A boy was in the shadows, waiting for his prey. His dress was that of a traditional Japanese kimono, and a sword rested at his hip. His eyes were embers, glinting in the night, glowing with an inner fire. He waited, this fourteen year old child, for the man he was to kill.

Sonny Hatami came into view, surrounded by a few trusted men. He was a biochemical weapons engineer. It had been confirmed that he was done with a new, more powerful weapon. The government wanted it, but he wouldn't give it to them, intent on selling it to a terrorist group in exchange for millions. All that their little assassin wanted to know was that he was to be killed, not the reasons. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice anymore. Then Sony Hatami walked in front of the young teen.

"I have no personal grudge against you, but you must die for the sake of the government." the boy said quietly, stepping from the shadows.

"Who is this kid?" Sonny asked, turning to the nearest of the four men. He shrugged.

"Maybe he's some kid who thinks he's all that." A man on the far side of the teen said.

"I am known as Hitokiri Battosai. You will all die here tonight." Then he disappeared. A flash of silver later, the young hitokiri reappeared, two men falling to the ground, his sword dripping blood. Sonny backed away, face full of terror. The two men remaining jumped in front of him pulled their gun out and pointed them shakily at the child.

"How can he do that? He's just a kid for god's sake." Sonny whispered, horrified by the child assassin in front of him. "Has the government stooped so low as to use children to kill?" The boy's amber eyes landed on him, and Sonny gulped at the anger and blood lust in them. This child was different.

The child disappeared, just as the guns were fired. He reappeared behind Sonny. The man turned in time to see tears slip down his face. He left the world at a child's hands, knowing that this teen assassin was still just that, a child.

"Mr. Hatami!" One of the remaining men cried out. Then the gun was knocked from his hands. As the sword arced high over his head, he fumbled for the knife at his belt. The sword started on its decent, and the knife flashed out.

The guard fell, ct from head to toe. The boy held a hand to his cheek, where a wound bled sluggishly. The he turned to the last guard, and cut him down as well. Then he sheathed his sword, picked up the knife and left, leaving the bodies behind him and taking memories, and that knife.

As Kenshin finished, he realized his hand was on his cheek, touching the same scar he had received that day, so long ago. _'Why did you choose this particular one?' _Kenshin asked silently. _'Cause, this one happens to be the most interesting, in my opinion.'_ Voice replied haughtily. _'Whatever.'_ Kenshin returned to the paper, silently brooding.

"Hey, can I read that?" Sanosuke's head popped over Kenshin's shoulder. Kenshin gave the paper to him, and watched as he read. His face went through a series of emotions, interested, curious, sadness, horror, and confusion.

"Kenshin? How the heck did you write this?" Sano asked turning seriously to the teen. Kenshin shrugged, and hoped that his face was blank and innocent. Sano looked a him for a few more seconds, then turned away, handing the paper back to its owner. The two of them finished their homework in silence, and descended the stairs for diner with a little discomfort between the two.

"YAY! WE GOT PIZZA! NO HOMEMADE FOOD! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!" Yahiko chanted, over and over as he took a slice from the box on the table. Sano stared at the box for a minute, the raced over, grabbing a slice and sitting down to wolf it up. Kenshin stared, then, slowly, he took a piece out and looked intently at it, then ate it. He hadn't had pizza in a long time. You really don't get much of it during a war. The other two were too busy eating or fighting over a piece they didn't see Kenshin slowly eating one after another.

"Hey, are you three gonna help me or not?" Kaoru yelled from the dojo, where she was cleaning up from the few students who had been there.

"Hey Kaoru! We have pizza! You want some? Before we eat it all?" Yahiko shouted from the kitchen. Kaoru's head popped up just as Sano beamed Yahiko with a spoon.

"Why'd ya do that blockhead? We could have had the pizza all to ourselves!" Sano complained. Yahiko didn't reply. He was to busy lying on the floor.

"But that's not nice. Miss Kaoru lets you come here all the time and eat without paying! This one thinks that awfully nice of her." Kenshin muttered. Sano ignored him while Kaoru seemed to teleport to the kitchen and wolf down two slices before they could blink. This was much better then her cooking. Kenshin just stared.

"ORO?" A teacup went flying across the room, hitting Kenshin in the head. He stumbled back, then lifted swirly eyes to Yahiko, who had tried to beam it at Sano.

"Oops, sorry Kenshin. My bad." Yahiko muttered, looking embarrassed. Kenshin just shook his head and turned towards the stairs.

"This one is gonna go to bed. Night Everyone! Thank you for letting this one stay here!" Kenshin walked up the stairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

"Aw man! My stuff's still in there!" Sano whined.

"Well, you can just go get it after you help me clean up this mess, both in here and the dojo. You too Yahiko. It's part of your training." Yahiko groaned.

"I thought I was supposed to be learning swordsmanship, not how to clean." He complained. Kaoru just hit him on the head with her shinia. "OW! Whatcha do that for ugly?" He said, rubbing a large bump forming on his head. Kaoru hit him again.

"Don't call me ugly, and I won't hit you. Got it?" Yahiko muttered something under his breath. "What did you say?" she asked, warning in her voice.

"Nothing." He said.

"That's what I thought. Now, you two, march." Kaoru pointed. They began to walk resignedly towards the dojo, muttering darkly under their breath.

As the two of them, supervised by Kaoru, who had a wooden sword in her hand, slowly cleaned the dojo, floor and walls, till they sparkled. Then they dragged themselves out of the dojo, down the walkway connecting it to the house, and into the kitchen.

"CAFFEINE! NEED CAFFEINE!" Sano shouted, dashing to the fridge and yanking it open. He grabbed a coke out of the bottom drawer and opened it with a pop, drinking deeply till it was gone. "Ok, all better. Now, I'd better go grab my stuff. My mom wants me home before nine, and it's already eight thirty!" Sano dashed up the stairs, but stopped when he felt a weird energy coming from Kenshin's room. He got closer, until he could hear the teen breathing hard inside. So he wouldn't disturb the guy, Sano crouched low to the floor, and looked under the door.

"What the heck?" Sano whispered silently. Kenshin was standing in the middle of the room, a sword sheathed in hand and his eyes closed. The air around him swirled, and the breeze outside rustled the windows. Sano watched in amazement as some of the leaves on the floor rose and began to move around Kenshin, as if the guy was a magnet or something. Then, they began to tremble, and finally, tore in half, when no one was touching them. His eyes opened, and stared around the room. Sano caught a glimpse of them, and they weren't their ordinary indigo shade.

"Who is that kid?" Sano breathed in shock. Kenshin sure as hell wasn't normal. Deciding to keep it a secret for now, Sano walked quietly to the stair, then, about halfway down them, he turned back to the top.

"HEY! KENSHIN! I NEED TO GET MY STUFF!" he yelled, knocking on his door. Kenshin opened it, empty-handed.

"Oh, sorry Sano. This one forgot about it. Hehe." Kenshin said sheepishly. He was totally different then when Sano had seen him just a moment ago. For instance, his eyes weren't glowing amber, and he wasn't looking dangerous. Sano walked in just as Kenshin hid a piece of paper behind his back. 'Wonder what that was?' he thought to himself, but decided against asking. He really didn't want to know just now.

When Sano left the room, Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that his friend had seen him, but there was nothing he could do now. He just hoped Sano thought it was a vision or something and forgot about it. He looked at the paper he had tried to hide.

**Hitokiri Battosai**

**Come to the old dojo on the outskirts of **

**town, unless you want us to burn that **

**house you're staying in to the ground.**

**Shinko-Ryu**

**(hehe, I rhyme)**

Kenshin had heard of this group. It wasn't an official government group. It just did their dirty work when the money was right. The irony of the whole thing is that they were planning to overthrow the government one day, and reestablish a new one from Japan's glory days. They also used traditional Japanese weapons, though a few used modern day guns, and were known for being the best around, next the Oniwabanshu, descendents of spies from Japan. It seemed as if everyone was from Japan these days.

Kenshin crumpled the note in his hand, then began to change into his old outfit, a kimono. He slid the sakabato into his sash, and, checking to make sure his door was firmly locked, he jumped from the window and onto the ground, silent as a mouse. He had to do this. He couldn't let Miss Kaoru and Yahiko get hurt just because who he had once been. It wasn't their fault. They had no idea.

The teen made his way to the outskirts of San Francisco, and found the dojo they were talking about. It was large, though in extreme disrepair. As he walked in, he kept his guard up. He felt a number of presences in the room, all hidden in the shadows.

"Come out now. This one is here, like you wanted. Now one wishes to know the reason you have sent for him." Kenshin stated, his voice echoing in the large space. His foot caught on a hole in the ground. As he pulled it out, two men walked into the moon's light. One was holding a double-sided sword, and the other had an ax.

"We are not here from the government, if that is what you were wondering." Kenshin was surprised, though he didn't show it. So what were they here for? "We are here to ask you to join our group. We know how strong you are, and you could be of great use in overthrowing the government. What do you say?" The man with the double-sided sword was speaking.

"No." Simple and straight to the point. Unfortunately, the men didn't want this answer. They glared at him.

"Then we will have to kill you." Suddenly, all four men in the room charged. Kenshin jumped and flipped out of the way, his hand flashing to his sword. Two of the men were on the ground before he landed. The other two just stared.

"So the master wasn't lying when he said the battosai was strong. He's almost inhumanly strong, and as fast as the gods." A man whispered in awe. Kenshin turned to the remaining two. They gulped, but stayed put, standing in front of Kenshin.

"Don't say one didn't warn you." Kenshin disappeared, and then suddenly, a flash of silver later, he was there, on the other side of the men. They stopped, then fell, mouths gaping. None were dead, but he left them a note.

**Tell anyone, and this one will **

**Make sure to hunt you down. **

**Not a word.**

**HB**

Kenshin didn't like resorting to threats, but decided that this was an emergency. He really didn't want the cops in the area to know he was here. He left the dojo and silently headed back to the house. It was only nine thirty. He still had time to sleep tonight before school tomorrow. What a relief. He didn't notice a pair of eyes watching him as he left.

'Ah, so the rumors of his strength were true, defeating my top men in under five minutes. Amazing. I just have to have him.' His watcher thought, slowly retreating into the dark.

Kenshin arrived at the window he had left only forty minutes ago. Staring up at the house, he was sad. So many people were nice to him, yet none knew the truth. If they did, they would most likely kill him. He shook off the thought, preying that they would never know. He didn't want to return to who he was. Not again. Never again. He jumped up to the window, landing lightly on the frame, and stepped down into the room. Then, slowly, he changed into his pj's, climbed into bed, and stared at the ceiling. _'What a hectic first day'_

RK: Yes, I know, long chapter. Very long. 37 pages to be exact. And any ideas will help! Please? And if anyone wants to be a beta, as I have none, please offer! I really need one! Thank you! And see that little purple button down there? I bet you it will make the world blow up if you press it…..

Cai: (**mutters) **you wish.

RK: Shush! Review, please?


	2. PE Madness

RK: Im Back! I know, this has taken forever to get up, I'm sorry! And i have to excuse cause ive had it written before i posted the first chapter!

Cai: Your just lazy.

RK: (**looks around)** And, your point is? Oh, and to my beta, Someone Really Special, I am so sorry about posting this now, but im going on vacation and i wanted to get a chapter up before i left! SO SORRY! (cringes) don't kill me!

Disclaimer: (Nobuhiro Watsuki standing behind RK holding the owners papers to the RK series) I do not Own Rurouni Kenshin. He belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki, the over lord of said series...NOW GO AWAY! God, stupid manga artists...

RK: OK now, on with the second Chapter!

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PE Madness

The next morning, when Kaoru went to go wake Kenshin up, she found his door open, his bed empty, and his gym bag missing. 'Wonder where he is?' She wrung a towel around wet hair as she walked down the stairs. Then she heard the sounds of cooking in the kitchen and silverware pounding on the table. She ran down the last few steps and swung into the kitchen. The sight that greeted her left her speechless.

Kenshin was at the stove, long red hair pulled back, apron tied around his light pink shirt and white pants, both of which were new. Sanosuke and Yahiko were sitting at the table, a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, beating on the table. Kenshin was looking back at them every so often, shaking his head at their childish antics.

"You're cooking breakfast?" Kaoru asked in astonishment. Usually, she just had a piece of toast or something.

"Yes. This one is making bacon and eggs. Would you like some?" Kenshin asked innocently.

"YES PLEASE! KENSHIN COOKS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU KAORU!" Yahiko yelled over the sizzling of the bacon, a grease spot on his moth evidence to his rendezvous with the bacon. Sano hit him on the head.

"I don't think he was talking to you idiot." Sano told him. Yahiko began to yell back, but abruptly shut up when Kenshin handed out the plates of food. Then he stared at it for a second, as in disbelief, but as suddenly as the food was there, it was gone, vanished in the blink of an eyes, as was Sano's. Kenshin and Kaoru stared.

"Their just as inhuman as Kenshin is." Kaoru whispered. Said inhuman teen handed her a plate, an eager look on his face. Kaoru ate a bite, then her face contorted into a disgusted look.

"Do you not like it?" Kenshin asked, a look of crestfallen hope on his face.

"I just don't like it when people cook better then me, that's all." She said contemptuously, turning from Kenshin to finish eating. Kenshin did a face-plant, a sweat drop forming on his head. "Besides, we need to get to school. It's almost six, and we need to meet up with Megumi and Misao. School starts at seven thirty." Kaoru turned and picked up her bag. Sano and Yahiko had a dejected look on their faces as they pushed themselves beck from the table and picked up their own bags. Kenshin finished eating, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door, following the others. Kaoru locked it behind him, then ran to the head while Sano and Yahiko hung back with Kenshin.

"Why do you carry that gym bag, instead of a regular one?" Sano asked, looking pointedly at the boy's blue bag slung over one shoulder.

"Yeah, why do you?" Yahiko repeated. Kenshin just shrugged.

"Well, this one prefers a gym bag to a regular bag, and besides, one can carry almost anything in a gym bag." Kenshin said, his tone neutral. They walked the rest of the way to school in silence, well, almost in silence, if you discounted the three girls, who were talking animatedly to each other about homework, boys, and other stuff that didn't interest the guys. As they arrived at the school, Aoshi was unfortunate enough to be getting off the bus at that exact moment. The silent teen blanched as he heard Misao's voice. It's not that he didn't like Misao, it's just that she was so…..so….clingy. It might be easier if she didn't hang on him almost twenty four-seven.

"Man, he looks like he just saw a ghost." Kaoru chuckled, looking at Aoshi.

"Maybe he did. Misao can be pretty ghoulish when she wants to." Megumi replied, also laughing. They watched as the two of them walked into the building, Misao hanging onto Aoshi's arm.

The five of them stood outside until the bell rang, then headed inside to first period. They walked in dejectedly, or at least Sano and Kenshin did. Yahiko had run off to his first class, while Kaoru and Megumi were excited. They wanted to hear what everyone else had heard about the battosai. Kenshin was depressed. All he had heard about the whole morning was the battosai this, the battosai that. It was getting old. Actually, it had gotten old a long time ago. Like, yesterday. And now they had to discuss it in class, again. Oh god.

"Ok everyone. Pull out your homework and put it on the desk. When I call your name, you will stand up and read whatever you wrote last night. OK, let's get started." Mrs. Omasu said. Kenshin groaned. She started alphabetically, and since Kenshin's last name was before the rest of his friends, he was pretty close to the front. Actually, he was the fourth person on the list.

"Himura, Kenshin. You did do your homework, right?" Kenshin nodded. "Well then, read it, out loud if you please." Kenshin gulped, but picked up his paper and began.

"Hitokiri Battosai is an infamous assassin and soldier in the army. He was said to have used a Japanese sword, instead of a gun, but it worked well enough for him. Just over a week and a half ago, battosai disappeared, both from the government and the army. He left without giving a word of where he was going, or why he left, though I believe it has something to do with his morals. He might have decided that, after seven years of killing, he finally got tired of it, and left."

"He was young, only a teenager, some say. He became known for his skill with a sword, and the fact that only those who were meant to see him lived to tell the tale later. He might have regretted taking all those lives, even if they may have been for a greater cause, or so said the government. But you can't really trust them, can you? Anyway, battosai is still young, and probably went to a place that he could blend in, be a normal kid, or he might have just gone home, where he belonged before he left."

"But, for whatever reason, it's reasonably safe to say that the government is after him, most likely as we are speaking. And, if the government catches him, they most likely will want their precious machine back, for he was the only one who could carry out their dirty work in secret, until the cops found the bodies, that is." Kenshin sat down, his voice disgusted. Sano looked at him, surprised at the vehemence in his voice. It sounded as if Kenshin was talking from experience, though that couldn't be possible. Kenshin, an assassin? The infamous one? Highly doubtful. The kid probably couldn't even lift a sword, much less fight with one. Those things were heavy!

After the rest of the class had gone, the teacher was writing different theories on the board and she remembered the one a strange kid in the back had said. That maybe he was tired of killing, that he didn't want to kill anymore. Certainly odd, but one that sounded almost plausible, so she wrote it down as well.

"Copy each of these down and place them in your folder. I expect you all to look at each carefully and choose which might be the most likely. You will write at least a paragraph on why. I'm also going to hand out books, The Anthem. Read chapter one and be ready to discuss by tomorrow." Mrs. Omasu began to hand out books, writing down the name of the student who received it on a sheet of paper.

"Man, why do we have to do this stuff the first week of school?" Sanosuke complained, writing the theories dejectedly down on his paper.

"Because the teacher said so. Anyway, we also have to read tonight, so don't go getting all weird on me now. If you collapse from depression, I'm just going to leave you lying there." Megumi commented from the far side of Kaoru. Sano looked up, confused.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" He asked. Megumi didn't answer. She just continued to write. Sano sighed. Megumi was a puzzle in herself.

The teacher handed out the last of the books just as the bell rang. She clapped her hands together, happy, and ushered everyone out the door. The four walked together until they reached the split between their separate classes.

"See ya later!" Kaoru yelled back at them. Sano and Kenshin waved.

"Math. I hate math." Sano muttered. Kenshin nodded his agreement. Math just wasn't his best subject in the world. As they walked into the class, the teacher looked up.

"Ah, Sano. How are we today?" He asked, his tone sickly sweet. Sano shrugged and walked to the back of the room, sitting down. Kenshin followed.

"So, Sano. What are we supposed to be doing today?" Kenshin asked in a whisper.

"For all I know, we could be doing simple adding and subtracting, or some other such thing. You never know." Sano leaned back in his chair.

"You're helpful." Kenshin muttered. He really didn't like math. Lucky him, they didn't do much. In fact, all they did was stare blankly at the board while Mr. Hoji went on to talk about math's basic principles. Even Kenshin could do this, so he just sat, alert on the outside and asleep on the inside. When the bell rang, he got up gratefully and followed Sanosuke out to meet the girls.

"This one didn't know any class to be that boring." Kenshin yawned. He didn't know someone could talk for that long and not need to breathe, or else he just wasn't paying attention. It sounded as if it was one long, run on sentence.

"HEY! SANO! KENSHIN! YOU COMING?" Kaoru yelled over at them. Kenshin nodded sleepily. Next was PE. Shit. They caught up with the two girls and walked down the stairs to the PE room. After roll, they were ordered to dress in, and ff they went, to change into their workout clothes. _'How much fun' _thought Kenshin wryly. He wasn't all too sure about the whole changing out thing yet, but he changed, reluctantly, into the black shorts and red shirt, then walked out with Sano and Yahiko to join the three girls. This was the only class that all six of them had together. They lined up, waiting for instructions.

"Ok, today we are going to first run the mile, then do the fifty and hundred meter dash. And don't complain. Would you rather do it later this week?" She said when the whole class, with the exception of Kenshin, groaned. He didn't see the problem. They walked, resignedly, out to the track and lined up at the 'start'.

"Hey, lets see of Kenshin can break the school record set by Aoshi last year. Bet you can't. He's that fastest kid here! He ran the mile in 5 minutes flat. Pretty fast huh?" Yahiko teased, knowing Kenshin would never beat it. Kenshin just shrugged. That wasn't really all that fast to him.

"Yeah, we haven't seen how fast you can run yet Kenshin. Let's see if you can beat me!" Sano boasted. Kenshin smirked again. Sano was in for a major surprise. Kaoru and Megumi watched in interest. It was well known that Sano was one of the fastest, and strongest, in the school, only beat by Aoshi Shinomori. It would be interesting to see how this turned out. When the whistle blew, they all blinked.

Kenshin had disappeared. Well, to be accurate, he sort of wavered, then vanished, his speed to great for them to follow. They looked around the track, searching for the missing teen, but, not a minute later, gasped when they felt the air beside them rippling and the form of Kenshin Himura whip by before it was gone.

"Uh, Sano? I think the kid beat you." Megumi muttered. Actually, nobody had moved since the whistle blew. They were all to busy trying to follow Kenshin, though no one was having any luck with it at all.

"Like I told you all, he's not human." Misao confirmed, her eyes trying desperately to track the teen.

Kenshin came to a halting stop beside Sano, done with his mile.

"You're done? Already? But…hey, Mrs. Shurra! How many minutes has it been?" Sano yelled over to the teacher, who was standing, dumbstruck, at the red headed child.

"Oh, uh, three minutes, twenty seconds, give or take five seconds." She said, fumbling for the timer. In her mind, moving that fast wasn't humanly possible.

"Oh, that slow? This one knew he was out of practice, but not that much." Kenshin muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Sano and the rest of his friends heard.

"Do you mean to say that you can go faster then that?" Sano exclaimed. Kenshin nodded sheepishly. "Won't believe it till I see it. I refuse to." Sano turned his head. Kenshin sighed. He knew this was a challenge, and in front of this many people, he couldn't back down. He was muttering curse words in his head and thinking of a couple unpleasant things he could do to the poor boy. _'You know, if you wanted to, I could probably make some of those come true." _Voice offered. Kenshin slammed that door he was becoming accustomed to have joyfully.

"Fine. This one will race you to that side of the track. That ok?" Sano nodded. He thought that since Kenshin had just run the mile, and that fast, he would be pretty tired, even if he didn't show it. Sano crouched down, into a runner's starting position. Everyone crowded around the two, betting on who would win. Kenshin stood straight up, hands at his side.

"One…two…three…GO!" Kaoru yelled. Sano took off, looking behind to see if Kenshin was following. Kenshin wasn't there. He was already done, standing at the proposed finishing line. Sano gaped. Everyone gaped. They hadn't even seen him move.

"Shit, that's fast." Sano said quietly under his breath. He wasn't even fifty feet from the starting line, and Kenshin was done. The teacher seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Ok, I think that settles it. Kenshin is not human." Misao muttered to Yahiko, who nodded in agreement.

"Um, ok everyone, line up at the starting line, and on my whistle, start. All except you, Mr. Himura. You stay with me. Kenshin walked reluctantly over to the teacher and stood at the side of the track, staring over at his friends. He wished he was running with them. He could have slowed down, he thought.

The whistle blew, and the class started out, with the usual shoving and pushing to get to the front. Sano got the lead.

"So, Mr. Himura. What the heck are you trying to pull? We all know that it isn't physically possible to move that fast, so how are you doing it? Hand over whatever makes you look like you disappear and reappear. Now, or I'm sending you up to the dean's office for possession of illegal electronics." Kenshin was, well, let's just say shocked is an understatement. His eyes were wide and his face was like it would be if you told a child that Santa wasn't real.

"But…but this one isn't using anything. Nothing at all!" Kenshin looked up into the teachers face. It was disbelieving.

"Sure, right. Now, you have one more chance to give me whatever you are using before you go to the office." Kenshin blanched. _'Man, this lady is persistent. Poor you. What are you going to say? I highly doubt she'll believe the truth.'_ Voice was back, but Kenshin didn't much care at the moment. He was too busy trying to convince the teacher that he wasn't in possession of illegal electronics in school.

"But this one doesn't have any electronics at all! One swears!" Kenshin was practically begging at her feet. He was seriously considering calling a well known mental facility. This lady needed one.

"Well then, how did you jump so high yesterday? Or run so fast? It's faster then the world record! And then you say that it was SLOW! Dean's office! NOW!" She pointed towards the school, and Kenshin trudged resignedly up to the office, thinking that maybe he should have slowed down a bit, but he didn't really know how at the moment. And he really didn't jump **that** high, did he? He wasn't paying attention as he walked up to the office, and he ran into someone.

"So, where are you going, Kenshin?" It was Hiko, his old master and now his teacher. He was looking at Kenshin with a sly look.

"The dean's office." Kenshin said shortly. Hiko looked startled.

"What did you do? I thought you weren't going to kill anyone." Kenshin glared at his master.

"They seem to think that this one is using illegal devices to run or jump, because apparently what one was doing is not normal." Kenshin bit out harshly. Hiko smiled.

"So, why do they think that?" He goaded, knowing his former student had a thin wall of patience when it came to teasing, for the most part, though he could be incredibly stubborn sometimes.

"We ran the mile today, and did the vertical jump yesterday." Kenshin muttered. Hiko smirked.

"So, how fast?"

"3:20" Hiko frowned.

"Isn't that a little slow?" He contemplated. Kenshin nodded.

"One was just warming up, but it seemed to be a little fast for them." Kenshin said, happy that someone understood him.

"Ah, so how high did you jump that surprised them." Hiko was waiting for an answer that he knew would most likely astonish him a little. Kenshin had excelled at leg strength.

"Only about twenty feet. The ceiling was in the way." Kenshin said nonchalantly.

"And now this one has to go to the dean's office, most likely to get stripped searched. Bye Master." Kenshin walked off, depressed, while Hiko just stood there and chuckled. His pupil would have to find out on his own. No more help from him. 'Besides,' Hiko reasoned, 'the kid is nineteen now. He needs to get to know the modern world.'

Kenshin walked into the office, and was directed to the dean by stern faced teachers. Apparently, Mrs. Shurra had already called up. Kenshin still thought that charges were ridiculous.

The dean looked friendly, but looks aren't everything. Since Kenshin used to make a living out of reading people, he could tell that the dean wasn't all too happy.

"So young man, I got a call from your PE teacher saying she suspects you of using electronic devices to increase speed or your power. Now, if I could just see these devices?" The man asked, his voice coldly polite.

"But, sir, one is not using any devices at all." Kenshin protested. The dean frowned.

"I have evidence of you jumping twenty feet or so to the ceiling of the gym. Do you need to see it?" Without waiting for a reply, the dean swiveled in his chair and pressed a few buttons, bringing up yesterday's tape from the gym. It showed Kenshin, standing beside the wall. Then, he wasn't there. The camera just reached the ceiling, and it showed the teen standing on the beam, balancing quite well. Then, he jumped, landing on the floor gracefully.

"Would you care to explain that to me? How you managed to do that without any sort of device at all? It is well known that new inventions are being made all the time. If you have one, give it to me now, please." He held out a beefy hand. Kenshin was furious. Do these people just not get it?

"WHY DO I HAVE TO REPEAT EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE? I DID NOT USE ANY SORT OF DEVICE TO DO ANYTHING! AND IF YOU WANT PROOF, YOU CAN PAT ME DOWN AND THEN WATCH ME DO IT AGAIN! GOD PEOPLE!" Kenshin was fed up with them all, enough so that he dropped the third person speech. They were just so annoying. The dean was backing away just a little.

"Ok, we can do that. Uh, lets go to the gym. May I bring a witness if I want to?" Kenshin nodded, glad that he wasn't going to be asked the same annoying question. The dean was back in an instant, and following him was none other then Hiko. Kenshin stared for a minute, then began to laugh.

"What's so funny young man? Mr. Shiko here is a highly recommended teacher and swordsman. Show him proper respect." Kenshin abruptly shut up and bowed to his former master, who did the same, which caused the dean to look funnily at the two of them. "Well, other then Mr. Shiko, I am bringing the principal with me. Come along Mr. Himura." The dean turned out of the room.

"Why are you here master?" Kenshin asked in an undertone. Hiko smirked.

"I figured you could use a hand. And anyway, I wanted to see what they would do to you in the first place. Thought it would be amusing." Kenshin glared.

"Evil, conceited masters always getting on former apprentices nerves and following them around…." Kenshin muttered. Hiko looked at him.

"Be nice. I thought I taught you that much at least. Besides, you were the one who left. But let's not get into that at the moment." They walked in silence to the gym, where Kenshin was summarily patted down. When they were satisfied that he had nothing on him, they stood the teen against the wall.

"Ok, now, to see if you were telling the truth. Jump, Himura." The dean pointed accusingly at the teen. Kenshin looked helplessly at his former master, who just smirked at him, again. Kenshin thought over the possibilities.

If he did leap up, just as high as yesterday, he would be asked questions, or given to the government for examination, or just stared at in awe. If he didn't they would ask him questions and think that he used some device yesterday, and search his locker until they were happy, or even worse, search his bag. Weighing the possibilities, he decided on the first option. If he was given to the government, at least he would save his friends the trouble of knowing who he was.

Bending his knees slightly, he sprang up, and landed lightly on the ceiling beam, once again. He peered down from his perch at the people below. Hiko looked as if he understood his reasoning, at least slightly. The rest were just staring at him in astonishment.

"He's not human…." The dean said, his voice weak. Kenshin stared down, then, deciding in a split second, he jumped off.

"What the hell?" the principal exclaimed, her eyes wide. "He's gonna kill himself doing that!" Just as before, her worries were unfounded. Kenshin landed gracefully, no broken bones or anything. Hiko walked over.

"So, why did you decided to actually jump normally? I mean, you could have just hopped a little bit." Hiko whispered.

"If this one had only sprang up a little, they would want to know how one jumped so high yesterday, and suspect an illegal electronic device, or some other such matter, and they would search one's locker and bag, and this one has that in his bag, and, well, let's just say that it wouldn't be pretty if they found it." Hiko nodded in understanding. In the same position, he probably would do something similar. But then again, he would be smart enough to not get caught in this predicament. The dean cleared his throat.

"Um, okay, since that's cleared up, how about that thing with you disappearing? No one can disappear." The dean was nervous. He had no idea what this kid was. He sure as heck wasn't human in his book. The teen glanced at Mr. Shiko. A look was exchanged, and the boy nodded. He stood up and faced the dean and principal.

"This." The boy wavered and vanished, then reappeared on the other side of the room. The two officials paled. This kid wasn't human.

"I recommend you not tell anyone what went on here." Hiko walked up to the two school officials and laid a hand on their shoulders. They looked up into his face, fear evident. Both nodded, heads shaking like a roller coaster or something.

"Well, Kenshin. I suggest you get back to class. They will be almost done. And tell your teacher that they cleared you of using any electronic device. Though where they even came up with that idea, I have no clue. Sorta stupid if you ask me. Well, get going now." Hiko turned to his former apprentice. Kenshin bowed.

"Yes master." He took off outside, where his PE class was still exercising.

"And it would be best if nothing spoken here was taken from this room. All that needs to be known is that Kenshin did not use any sort of electrical device to do anything. Now, I must leave you." Hiko turned and walked out the double doors that were the entrance. The dean and principal stared after him, eyes flicking from the door that Kenshin had left from and the one Hiko and gone through.

"Those two are very strange." The principal commented after a while.

"Yeah, that's for sure." The dean stared off into the distance for a moment, then turned to the principal. "I think we should listen to Mr. Shiko. Nothing spoken should go beyond these doors." After a minute of consideration, the principal agreed, but both filed Kenshin Himura under their mental 'Watch' list, along with Sanosuke and Aoshi. These people were just a little stranger then normal.

As Kenshin walked glumly outside, he was slightly glad Hiko had been present. At least someone he knew was there. And maybe the dean and principal wouldn't be telling anyone what had happened.

"HEY! Mr. Himura! I thought I sent you to the office!" The teacher called. Kenshin walked straight up to her.

"They let this one out. They didn't think one was using electronics, though Mr. Shiko did want to know where you got the idea from in the first place." Kenshin said. His head turned when he heard someone calling his name.

"HEY! KENSHIN! GET YOUR SCRAWNY LITTLE BUT DOWN HERE!" It was Sanosuke. Kaoru, Megumi, Yahiko and Misao were all with him, waiting at the starting line of the 100 meter dash. Kenshin walked over.

"What are you five doing?" Kenshin asked, his tone puzzled. Sano grinned evilly.

"It's our turn to run, and since there are six line to run in, why not a race? Just a little friendly competition between friends." Sano said, looking over at Kenshin. The teen sighed. Sano was hopeless.

"This one already beat you though." Kenshin protested. Sano waved a hand. He didn't seem to care.

"That was a fluke, a misjudgment. Won't happen again. So, how about it?" Kenshin shrugged. Why not. It wouldn't hurt anything. They all lined up at the teacher's mark, then started on her whistle.

While Kenshin once again seemed to waver and disappear, Kaoru caught a glimpse of him, only one, that showed his legs moving faster than the speed of…..well….of something. When Kenshin had shown up at the finish line only a couple seconds after the whistle blew, they all confirmed the well known fact that Kenshin wasn't normal. No normal person could do that. The only good thing was that no one seemed to notice Kenshin's disappearing act.

As the six of them trudged back to the locker rooms, Kaoru turned to Kenshin.

"What was that all about Kenshin? Why did the teacher want you?" Kenshin shrugged, his face blank.

"The teacher went mental, and thought that this one was using electronics to enhance power, or some other such nonsense, so this one was sent to the dean. Teachers are weird." Kenshin told them. Sano laughed. "What's so funny?" Kenshin hunched over, his face scowling.

"You got sent to the dean's office! OH MY GOD! YOU BEAT ME! SO, did you get in trouble?" Kenshin shook his head as they walked into the locker rooms. Sano and Yahiko exchanged a look. Kenshin was hiding something, but whatever it was, they had no idea. They changed in silence, then joined the girls after the bell rang.

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RK: So, how did you like it? It was kinda cheesy..(ok, really cheesy) Ok, now to thank the reviewers!

**Someone Really Special**: Tanks for Betaing! Im so sorry about putting this up early! Forgive me please!

**DragonWolfStar**: Thanks for the review! Here's the update!

**Starfriut-22: **Thanks for the review! Here's the next Chapter!

**Cavalyn:** Well, i have a lot of the story typed, so that shouldn't be a problem, though ideas would be nice! Thanks for the review!

RK: so you know the drill, five reviews and another chapter! Thanks again!


	3. Kendo Praactice and Memories

RK: Look, I finally updated! YAY! ME! Sorry it's taken so long….i got a little sidetracked….hehe…..Anyway, before my muse tells you exactly how I got sidetracked, here is the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: Despite fondest wishes and dreams, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin…unfortunately….i don't have enough money to buy him…YET!

RK: so, now on with the story! Reviewers at the end! Oh, and I enabled the anonymous reviews….I figured out how..hehe….

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Kendo Practice and Memories

Kenshin was becoming a well known celebrity. Girls were coming up to the short teen, asking for dates or favors from the 'kid who could do anything.' Kenshin was becoming more confused and a lot more hassled then he had ever been. Every girl he turned down seemed to produce two more.

"GOD! SOMEONE HELP!" Kenshin exclaimed, exasperated, as they stumbled into English class. Sano and Megumi were laughing at the teen's misfortune, while Kaoru was glaring out at the girls for some unknown reason.

"Man, you sure got popular in a short amount of time. Only your second day here, and all the girls are already after you! Better watch out mate." Sano clapped the boy on the shoulders, sending him hurtling face first into the desks. "Oops, sorry." Sano rubbed a hand on the back of his head, face apologetic.

"No damage done, honestly. Now, let's go sit down." The four of them made their way to the back of the class and sat, shoving bags under desks. Mrs. Yumi stood up after the bell rang and held her hand up by the board, hovering there for just a second before dropping.

"Well, about last night's homework. I am going to choose a few people to read theirs out loud. Any volunteers?" No one raised their hand. The teacher sighed. "Well then, I'm just going to have to pick a few of you out myself." She picked up her roster and pointed to a random name. A very interesting name. "Kenshin Himura." Kenshin's eyes went wide. Why was everything happening to him? It just wasn't fair. When the teacher only stared at him, he sighed and took his paper out of the bag. Standing, with said homework assignment in hand, he began to read,

"The stars were out, the moon high in the night sky. A boy was in the shadows, waiting for his prey. His dress was that of a traditional Japanese gi, and a sword rested at his hip. His eyes were embers, glinting in the night, glowing with an inner fire. He waited, this fourteen year old child, for the man he was to kill.

Sonny Hatami came into view, surrounded by a few trusted men. He was a biochemical weapons engineer. It had been confirmed that he was done with a new, more powerful weapon. The government wanted it, but he wouldn't give it to them, intent on selling it to a terrorist group in exchange for millions. All that their little assassin wanted to know was that he was to be killed, not the reasons. He didn't have much say in who he was to kill anyway. Then Sonny Hatami walked in front of the young teen.

"I have no personal grudge against you, but you must die for the sake of the government" the boy said quietly, stepping from the shadows.

"Who is this kid?" Sonny asked, turning to the nearest of the four men. He shrugged.

"Maybe he's some kid who thinks he's all that." A man on the far side of the teen said.

"I am known as Hitokiri Battosai. You will all die here tonight." Then he disappeared. A flash of silver later, the young hitokiri reappeared, two men falling to the ground, his sword in his hand, dripping blood. Sonny backed away, face full of terror. The two men remaining jumped in front of him pulling their gun out and pointing them shakily at the child.

"How can he do that? He's just a kid for god's sake." Sonny whispered, horrified by the child assassin in front of him. "Has the government stooped so low as to use children to kill?" The boy's amber eyes landed on him, and Sonny gulped at the anger and blood lust in them. This child was different.

The child disappeared, just as the guns were fired. He reappeared behind Sonny. The man turned in time to see tears slip down his face. He left the world at a child's hands, knowing that this teenage assassin was still just that, a child.

"Mr. Hatami!" One of the remaining men cried out. Then the gun was knocked from his hands. As the sword arced high over his head, he fumbled for the knife at his belt. The sword started on its decent, and the knife flashed out.

The guard fell, cut from head to toe. The boy held a hand to his cheek, where a wound bled sluggishly. He turned to the last guard, and killed him. Then he sheathed his sword, picked up the knife and left, leaving the bodies behind him, taking memories, and that knife. With a hand to his bleeding cheek, he walked away, into the shadows once again, the implement of his wound held tightly in his hand.

The whole room was hushed as Kenshin read, his voice filled with emotion. Sano, who had read it before, was amazed at the difference reading silently and reading out loud could do to the story. It sounded like it had really happened, and that Kenshin had been there to witness the whole thing. And the teen's voice. That voice was just so strange.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then they began to clap, applauding Kenshin, amazed at his knack for storytelling.

"HEY Himura! Awesome story!" One kid yelled, his face invisible. Kenshin sighed. If only they knew the truth. Then they might not be so amazed. Mrs. Yumi approached him, holding her hand out for the paper. Kenshin handed it to her reluctantly. She stared at it with wide eyes, then at him. Kenshin just remained staring blankly off into the distance.

With the paper clutched in her grasp, Mrs. Yumi turned to her desk. While she called off other names from the roster, Kenshin's paper held tightly in her grasp the whole time, her mind was flashing to the teen's paper. The whole incident sounded familiar, like it had been on the news, with the exact same details that Kenshin Himura had written. She listened with only half an ear to the rest of the reports.

After she had collected them all and sent her students off with vocabulary homework, (she forgot to hand out the papers for this, and the students conveniently forgot to tell her) she sat down at her desk and picked up the red-head's. She looked hard at it, looking for anything at all, for any little detail that jogged a memory. She found what she was looking for in the last paragraph.

'The guard fell, cut from head to toe. The boy held a hand to his cheek, where a wound bled sluggishly. He turned to the last guard, and killed him. Then he sheathed his sword, picked up the knife and left, leaving the bodies behind him, taking memories, and that knife. With a hand to his bleeding cheek, he walked away, into the shadows once again, the implement of his wound held tightly in his hand.'

"Aha! That's why it sounded so familiar. The sword attack, cutting the guard in half completely, a well known technique used by the Battosai. And the name too….." She flipped open the laptop and clicked on the internet. She would find out the truth.

Typing in 'Sonny Hatami', she did a Google search. And sure enough, Sonny Hatami was a well documented case, one of those killed by the Battosai. As the teacher lined up the report given to her by the student and the police report, she noticed a parallel between the two.

Actually, she noticed, that for one fact, they were exactly the same. All four guards had been killed, Sonny Hatami had been found dead likewise, and there was evidence that a knife had been taken from the scene. The only thing that didn't match up was the age of the assassin. In the police report, they had him at around late twenties, to have the strength required to cut a man in two. In the essay, the battosai was only a child, still fourteen years old. Yumi had no idea which was correct, but the odd parallels had her wondering from what source this Kenshin Himura had gotten his information from. She had access to some more of the classified pages, but Kenshin couldn't have. She had special permission.

While the teacher pondered this problem, the teen in question was currently sitting in the lunch room, joking with his friends and talking animatedly about random topics. At the moment, it was swords.

"But Kaoru, swords were used for killing in Japan's old days. Why are there two different styles of swordsmanship?" Sano asked, his face puzzled. Kaoru sighed. She had explained this to him before, but Sano was hopeless. He really was. But before Kaoru could explain yet again, Kenshin started answering.

"Because, if all the sword styles taught now would be Satsujin-ken, then how many people would know how to kill someone else? Katsujin-ken was developed specifically to avoid killing people, and those who learn it also learn how to protect. For instance, Miss Kaoru here teaches Katsujin-ken, a sword designed to conquer, not kill. But say, for instance, if she taught Satsujin-ken. How many little kids could go home and boast that they learned a way to kill someone? And how many students would be left?" Sano rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"I see, so one is used for killing, but if that was taught, there might be a ton of little Hitokiri Battosais running around. Right?" Kenshin spit out the soda he had been drinking all over the table.

"Uh, sorry?" Kenshin offered apologetically when Megumi and Kaoru turned to glare at him. "Well, yes, that's one way to put it….." Kenshin replied to Sano' question, cleaning up the mess with a few napkins. He didn't think Sano realized the extent of his wordplay. Well, no harm, no foul, as the old saying goes.

The rest of the day proved to be mostly uneventful, due to the fact that more then a few people had dropped Hiko's class after the first day. Hiko hadn't been surprised. To make the garden grow, you need to pull a few weeds. As the bell rang on the last class, Kenshin gathered up his things, and his bag hit the table with a CLANG. He winced, and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. The only other person in the room was Sano who looked at him as if he was mental.

"You coming Kenshin!" He yelled back, and Kenshin nodded. He was safe for now. As the six of them walked home, Misao bouncing and giggling, Kenshin was silent. He was too busy thinking over the day to worry about running into someone.

"Hey, Kenshin. I have a question." The red head turned to Sano. The taller teen looked hesitant, almost shying away from the query. "Well, yesterday, in PE. What were all those scars from?" Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Sano was going to ask what he was doing that night with a sword in hand.

"Well, this one got them when he was young. This one learned things the hard way, if you want to get technical. This one's…..teacher….was strict, and adhering to his rules was like trying to make flies come to vinegar. So, most of them were received out of sheer stupidity." Kenshin said, shrugging off Sano's look of sympathy. He had learned to live with them for a long time, and he highly doubted that they would be going away any time soon.

Walking into the house he now lived in, Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief. He had gotten through the day with only a few scrapes. Now, it was time for homework. He walked up the stairs and into his room. Setting the bag down on his desk, he carefully locked the door before opening it. Slowly, he pulled the sword from the bottom, carefully leaning it on his bed, within easy reach should he need it. Then he began to pull out the day's homework. Sitting on the floor, next to the sword that he built his life around, he took a look at the math problems Mr. Hoji had assigned him.

'_Math. I hate math. Why is it a subject anyway? It should be outlawed from schools worldwide.' _Kenshin thought grumpily, his hand hovering over the paper. _'Yeah, but if they abolished math, you wouldn't know your age, not that you actually TELL anyone your age, you wouldn't know the day of the week, the month, the numbers...'_ Voice trailed on. _'Will you shut up? I know that already, jeez. Bye bye now.'_ Kenshin shut the door on his other voice, slowly trapping the annoying pest inside. _'Ah, finally, some peace and quite.'_ Someone knock on the door. _'Knew I spoke to soon.' _Kenshin grumbled, but stood, up, shoved the sword under his bed, and went to open the door.

It was Sanosuke. "Hey, old buddy, old pal, old friend! How are you?" Sano asked, a cheerful expression plastered on his face. Kenshin sighed.

"What do you want?" he asked, preparing for the worst. Sano's face fell. He shuffled in, past Kenshin, and took a seat on the floor, dropping his bag .

"Kaoru wants me to put on pads and be a target for the kids in the dojo later today. She says it's because I come over here to eat all the time, and it's time I do something for her. But do you know how hard those kids hit?" Sano complained, his voice tinged with a whine. Kenshin chuckled.

"Fine, fine, this one will help you out, but only if you promise him one thing." Sano sat up, head pointing at Kenshin.

"Anything." He breathed. Kenshin smirked. "This one will only help you out if you promise to help THIS ONE with math. This one sucks at it." Kenshin hung his head at Sano's laughter.

"That's it? Sure, why not! And besides, math's an easy subject. Not to hard, very straight forward. You know, the way you jump around in PE, I'd think you would be great in math. Well, anyway, let's head downstairs, before Kaoru gets mad and comes looking for me. We'll do homework after." Sano started out the door.

"But, this one thought you said her class was in a little bit!" Kenshin exclaimed, running after the brown haired teen.

"Um…oops?" Sano offered, turning. Kenshin hit him upside the head. They walked down the stairs together and trudged out to the dojo.

"Ah! There you are Sano! And I see you got Kenshin to come along as well. How interesting. Well, you two get suited up while I get these six warmed up." Along with Yahiko, there were five others, three boys and two girls. One of the boys looked to be around Yahiko's age, and was next to Yahiko in strength. One of the girls was only a year or so younger then the little squirt that was practicing so hard. Kenshin smiled. These six would bring some greatness to swordsman ship. And they wouldn't do it by killing.

The two boys roughly pulled on the gear, then walked out awkwardly to the main room. Kaoru had the kids lined up, Yahiko, and the two older ones in one line, while the three younger children where in their own line. Sano immediately to the one with the three small kids, which left Kenshin in the one with the three older ones. Kaoru raised her hand.

"START!" Yahiko lunged at Kenshin. POW! Direct hit. Kenshin stood his ground and weathered the rather weak attack, not that he said anything. Next in line was the other boy.

"What's your name?" Kenshin asked. The boy looked at him.

"Yutaro. Get ready. I'm not weak like that shrimp over there." He nodded his head at Yahiko, whose ears started pouring steam.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT YOU LITTLE CAT EYED FREAK!" Yahiko yelled. Yutaro grew furious.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" He yelled back. Kenshin boldly stepped in the middle, and ended getting whacked upside the head on both sides. He fell to the ground, eyes swirling. The two boys looked at him. "Oops." They said simultaneously. Kenshin moaned. "Ow. That hurt." He got back to his feet. "Ok, let's try that again. Yutaro, it's your turn." Yutaro tightened his grip on the shinai, then lunged at Kenshin. Once again, the teen weathered the attack. It wasn't much stronger then Yahiko's anyway.

"Ok, one more. What's your name?" Kenshin turned to the girl. She lifted her head, brown eyes shining with an inner fire. "My name is Tae, sir." She said, her voice accented slightly. She lifted the bokato the students practiced with, and flew at Kenshin. Her attack was rather weak, but it held a lot of potential. They went through the line a few more times, then after they were done, Kenshin turned to the front and faced Kaoru, who was watching the three younger students.

"Miss Kaoru, we are done." Kenshin said, ready to take the hot gear off. Kaoru looked over at them.

"Ok, go ahead and take that gear off, then go take a shower, before you start to smell. Keep up the good work kids! And the three of you," she pointed at Yahiko, Tae, and Yutaro, "You keep practicing." She left them to it while Kenshin went gratefully to take the hot pads off. Then he headed straight for the shower.

Later that night, after everyone had finished and the dojo had been cleaned, the four teens sat in the living room, TV on and homework in their laps. Yahiko had turned to Kenshin, and began to ask him questions on the packet that Hiko gave them. When Kenshin answered him with the correct ones, he blinked.

"Hey, Kenshin, how do you know this when you haven't even done the packet?" Yahiko asked. Kenshin lifted said packet off the ground beside him and tossed it at the boy, who quickly flipped through it until he reached the answers. He stared.

"When did you do this?" He asked, his face blank. "You're already finished? When?" Sano looked over and snatched the paper from Yahiko.

"What do you mean, he's already done with it?" Sano glanced down, then took a second look. "Wow, he is already done. When? We're still working on it." Kenshin shrugged.

"This one finished that in class." Then he gathered all his papers and headed up the stairs. "This one is going to bed now. Sano, you might want to get your stuff."

"Oh, yeah, right. Coming." Sano got to his feet and followed Kenshin up the stairs. When they got to the top and stopped at Kenshin's open door, Sano remembered something. "Kenshin? What was that note you had yesterday? It seemed rather important." Kenshin looked decidedly guilty, as if he were trying to hide something from the other teen.

"It was nothing special. Just some stupid note one received. Nothing important. This one swears!" Kenshin held up his hands, palms out. Sano didn't believe him, but decided not to poke his nose where it didn't belong. He thanked the boy for letting him get his stuff, then left Kenshin to his own devices.

Kenshin sat heavily on the bed, then reached under it and pulled out the sword. Unsheathing it, he held it out, blade side pointing towards him. The blade itself was reversed, and could only kill if he turned it. He had had this sword for a number of years. It had been given to him by a master sword smith in Japan, when he had lived there for a couple months or so, on a mission for the American government. The irony was that, despite his appearance, he was Japanese.

His family had left after the collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu. A family of master swordsmen didn't really have much of a chance during the Meji era, so they left for the Promised Land and continued teaching the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu style in the family alone. Kenshin's only family, besides Hiko, who was a distant uncle of some sort, had died in a plane crash, of which Kenshin had been the only survivor.

The only reason he had survived in the first place was because his mother had covered him with her body, along with blankets and pillows, which not only protected Kenshin from the shrapnel, but softened the impact just enough for Kenshin to survive with minimal injuries. He had been given to his uncle, who had expanded on the basics of the style that his parents had started to teach him.

Remembering gave Kenshin the chills. He remembered in perfect detail all that had happened on that horrible crash. The sound of the plane exploding as his mother pushed him out the nearest window. And the blood. The blood from the bodies that had been shredded to pieces.

* * *

_The plane began a sharp descent and the pilot's voice came over the intercom. 'We have a slight problem. Please get into the crash position and brace for a hard landing.' The whole cabin was in an uproar. Babies were crying, adults were shouting, and, as the little red headed child listened, his mother gathered him up safely in her arms. _

'_Shinta, sweetie, wrap yourself in these. Please, for mommy?' The little boy looked up at his mother, large indigo eyes wide. He nodded his head seriously, and pulled the multitude of blankets around his small body. Then his mother wrapped her arms around him, pillows lining her limbs, and covered her small son with her body. She knew the plane was going to crash. All she wanted to do was save her only child. The last Himura in the family. _

_The plane went into a sharp nose dive, and Shinta was jostled in his mother's arms. His father enclosed the both of them, and they waited, this small family, for the hope that their child would survive. Shinta tried to remain as still as possible, and as quiet. Then the quietness was gone, replaced by the screams of people, of many people. A large_ _BOOM reverberated around the cabin, and flames began to make themselves known to the small boy. He twisted, climbing out of the protective cocoon, and found his mother and father, bloody from gashes and pieces of the airplane sticking into them. Shinta gasped, his small body shaking, his eyes wider then normal. He could feel a sharp pain wrapping around his body, from his shoulder to his thigh. Some blood began to soak into his clothes, most from his parents, some from his wound. _

'_Sh...in...ta' His mother whispered. He leaned close to hear what she was saying. 'You…must...save...yourself…we…did all we…could…' she began to cough, blood dribbling out of the side of her mouth, strange amber eyes closing. 'remember…always…Shinta…we loved you…but…now…your name is Kenshin…now…your….true name….is Kenshin Himura' Then she died, her hands pushing the little boy out of the broken window. She died in her husbands arms, protecting her only child from death. Kenshin, as his new name was, began to cry, walking out of the airplane that was ripped to shreds, looking for any survivors. All he saw were bodies torn into pieces, burning, bleeding, and he began to cry even more. _

_The moment he stepped out of the wreck, he felt a large swell in the amount of energy coming from the plane. He began to run, tripping over pieces of the plane that had flown off during the crash. He was a hundred feet away when the wreck exploded, going up in flames, and taking the bodies of over two hundred with it. The only survivor was a small boy, watching with tears streaming down his cheeks, and his mind blank. _

_When the police finally got to the remote place the plane had crashed, and it had taken a while because most of the helicopters were being repaired, so all that was left were trucks, they found a little boy, standing in front of hundreds of crosses, small ones, big ones, lopsided ones, and two stones, placed side by side. They stood in shock and awe at this child who had made hundreds of graves for the dead. His hands were black and his clothes were stained with blood. For a moment, they couldn't move, they were so touched by the scene in front of them that all they could do was stare. Finally, one officer dared approach the little boy, hands patting the child on the back. When he turned to face him, his eyes were wide, and a strange indigo color. When you got close enough, you could see the amber flecks in them. His hair was probably originally red, but was so filthy that it was hard to tell. But his face. His face was blank, devoid of emotion._

'_What's your name, young man?' the officer asked kindly. The boy looked at him for a moment._

'_My name was Shinta Himura, but now it is Kenshin Himura. That is what my mom told me before she died. She died.' Those words seemed an absolute to him. _

'_Who are these for?' the officer asked kindly, waving his hand around them, around the graves._

'_They are for those who died on the plane. All two hundred seventy four. I was the two hundred and seventy fifth. All the adults, the children, the babies. They are all here. I had to do something for them. I just had to. They all died, and I didn't.' The little boy, Kenshin, had silent tears running down his face, blank though it may be. To say the officer was shocked might be an understatement. To say he was dazed and stunned might come closer to his actual feelings. This child, who looked like he might have been seven or eight ears old, had made graves for everyone on the plane, complete with crosses and flowers. Then the officer pointed at the stones._

'_Who is there?' He asked. He little boy didn't answer for a moment, then he looked directly into the man's face. The adult was surprised at the emotion in his eyes. _

'_They are my parents. They died to let me live. My mom covered my body with hers, wrapping me in blankets to protect me. It was the best I could do for them.' The officer looked at the ground and saw 'Mom' and 'Dad' written in the soil. His eyes began to water, and he took off his hat. The rest of the officers followed suit, amazed at this child's insight and knowledge. The fact that he survived with minimal injuries was a feat in itself, and it was even more amazing that he had done this in the three hours it had taken for the police and fire department to find the place where the plane had crashed. _

_The fire department pulled up at that moment, and when they started out with the hoses, one of the officers stopped them and began to explain why there were crosses in the ground, why most of the police were silently crying, and why a little boy was standing, filthy dirty, in front of them. When they too understood, they all stood in shock at the child, not comprehending that this child had buried the bodies of hundreds in three hours. They just stood there, the wreckage only smoldering, having burned itself out hours ago, and watched as the many policemen who were there bend down on one knee, giving prayers for the dead. The firefighters followed suit. _

_Later on that same week, when all the members of the families who had been killed were alerted and told to go to the scene of the accident, they could not have been more surprised. They saw the same little boy, clean and bandaged now, standing once again in front of the graves, just standing there and staring. When one person asked why the boy was beyond the police tape, they got this reply._

'_He was the only survivor, and buried all the bodies of the dead, every single last one of them, beneath those crosses. He's only eight years old too.' This was said in awe, as if the officer was still in a state of shock. _

'_How do you know that?' The same person asked. The officer looked at him._

'_Because, I was the first one to speak to him after we got here. He was filthy dirty, covered head to toe in blood, little hands covered in soil and ashes from the graves he dug and from the bodies he buried there, and because those two stone are his mother and father. He did all this, because he was the only survivor, and everyone else died. That's what he said.' The man was amazed. This small child had buried his children, grandchildren, and wife? And then honored them by placing a cross on their graves. _

'_May I go speak to him? I would like to thank him.' The officer nodded. The man went across the police tape and walked up to Kenshin. 'What's your name, son?' The man asked gently. The little boy looked up at him, indigo eyes bright with unshed tears. The man took the little boy in his arms and held him as he cried, cried for the dead and those left. It was the first time that any of the officers or fire fighters had seen him cry._

'_I'm sorry sir. My name was Shinta, but my mom said my real name was Kenshin right before she died. She protected me.' The man smiled. _

'_That's ok. My name is Mr. Yukishiro. Thank you for doing this. Two of my children and their children were on the plane, along with my wife. I think that my two other children and my two grandkids will be happy. Thank you so much for doing this for them.' Kenshin smiled a watery smile. Then he went back to staring at the graves. Slowly, little by little, others came to him and expressed their thanks and prayed for the dead. Later on that same day, the little boy disappeared, and was never seen, nor heard from, again. Where he went was a mystery, but many were eternally grateful to him. From that day on, the area was marked as an honorable cemetery, dedicated to those who had died, and to the little boy whose name none but the first officer and Mr. Yukishiro even remembered. They never told anyone his name, for they knew the child's need for privacy. The only thing that reminded visitors that a child did this was a sculpture of the boy, standing over the graves in the middle of the cemetery. His eyes were wide, and his hair was pulled back into the pony tail that Kenshin had worn. On the base were the words:_

'_To the child who _

_survived and dedicated_

_these people in such _

_an honorable way._

_We are eternally grateful.'_

_At the front of the boy-statue's feet were two stones, with the words 'MOM' and 'DAD' carved into the ground by a child's hand.

* * *

_

Kenshin leaned his head back against the bed, hand closed over a now sheathed sword. He remembered that day with perfect clarity. He had gone back to that cemetery many times over the years, to remember and to honor those who had died. And when he disappeared, he had gone back to his house, over a hundred miles away, and found his distant uncle there. His uncle's name was Hiko Seijuro. And he was there to take Kenshin back to his house and teach the boy the swordsmanship that he had never received. In all actuality, he was essentially going to his uncle's house that summer, but after the crash, Hiko Seijuro came and got him. From then on, he called that man master, and was taught the ways of the ancient swordsmanship that his family was the protector of. And the name Hiko Seijuro was passed along to the next person who had mastered the whole style.

Kenshin got up and changed into his pajamas. Then he climbed into bed, switched the lamp he had turned on off, and went to sleep, the end of another hectic day coming to a close.

The rest of the week was rather bland, consisting of Kenshin cooking breakfast in the morning, Sano suddenly appearing there without an invite, them rushing out the door to school, then hanging out front until the bell rang. Classes were usually just going over the basics, and the only classes of interest were PE and Hiko's class.

On Wednesday, Kenshin managed to break the world record in both pull ups and pushups. On Thursday, he did the same thing with the sit ups and shuttle run. The teacher was beginning to become accustomed to Kenshin's ability, and even tried to sign him up for the track team, as well as almost every other sport available at the school. Kenshin declined every offer graciously, though Mrs. Shurra was still determined to get him into something. On Friday, though, was the most interesting class.

"Ok, next week, we will be starting Kendo. This will be going on for the rest of the semester. For those who do not want to participate, you may get a waiver form from the office and we will have you transferred to another class. Any questions?" A dozen hands shot into the air. Kaoru and Yahiko grinned while Misao complained that she did kenpo, not kendo. Kenshin just stood there, wondering why the world was against him lately.

"Hey, cheer up. I thought you would be happy when you heard that we would be doing swords for a while. I mean, you do know at least a little of how to use one, don't you? Isn't that what you told Maekawa sensei?" Kaoru asked, looking over at the dejected red-head. He nodded, plastering a smile on is face as he walked into the locker rooms. When Kaoru was out of sight, the smile dropped. Yahiko and Sano looked over at him, concerned. Kenshin seemed awful moody, even for him.

"What's wrong Kenshin?" Yahiko asked, stating to change back in. Kenshin shrugged, taking off his own PE shirt. The scars were visible to the eye, and Sano winced. Kenshin's old master, or whatever, must have been strict as hell to have given the boy so many pretty decorations.

Later on that same day, as they were walking home from school, Kaoru turned to Kenshin. "You're still coming with me to Maekawa Sensei's dojo, right?" She asked worriedly. Kenshin smiled.

"No need to worry, Miss Kaoru, this one is going, yes." Kaoru smiled in relief. She really wanted to see how good Kenshin was, and a match against a top sword fighter like Maekawa would be a good way to tell.

As the three of them sat around the house, watching TV, reading, or just being bored, Sano came over, knocking on the door, then coming in without any other pretense.

"Hello! I'm back!" Sano said in a sing-song voice. Kenshin and Kaoru groaned. They had wanted to rest, not get interrupted and forced to play some weird game. Fortunately, Sano was being nice. All he wanted to do was watch the TV, and that gave the two other teens time to rest. It was nice to be a teenager sometimes.

* * *

RK: Yes, no cliffhanger, but wait, there will be one, eventually, I'm just not there yet….Hehe, SO, now to thank my lovely reviewers!

**Someone Really Special:** Thank you for Beta-ing! Appreciate it! And See, I updated!

**DragonWolfStar: **Thanks for the reassurance…..she's your sister? Wow, interesting piece of trivia…..Here's your update!

**Starfruit-22:** You are special and famous…..at least here, cause you're my reviewer! Teehee! Here's your update!

**Draconic Ban-Sihde:** Thanks! Here's your chapter!

**Flip-Flop 108:** Aw, thanks! Appreciate it! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy! Here's the next chapter!

RK: Ok, see the purple button on the left? I bet you get Pocky if you press it….POCKY! YAY!

Review….please? I bet if I get more reviews, I'll update faster…..


	4. A Fight, A Confrontation, and a Secret

RK15: (dodges rotten tomatoes and heavy/sharp objects) I'm SOWWY!!!! I know, I've been gone for a while...(read long long time) but I do have a good excuse!! My laptop with all my stories on it crashed and wouldn;t work and it would cost a whole hell of a lot of money that I didn't have to fix, so i was stuck without it and just recently I got a cable that hooked up from the laptop to my new laptop and I was able to get ALL my stories off it!! YAY!!! So I've spent the last day and a half doing the happy dance! does a jig YAY!! 

Cai: Alright, get on with it. I'm tired of hearing about how you got your stories back. I'm sure those that have stuck with your sorry ass want to read the next chapter.

RK15: (glares) You be mean Cailin. (Cai shrugs indifferently) Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to **flip-flop108** for getting me off my lazy ass and reminding me that this story was floating around...-.-' (Smiles and hands **flip-flop108 **pocky) Arigato Gozaimasu!!!

Disclaimer: I would LOVE to own Rurouni Kenshin but I, unfortunately, am broke as well as owing my mother money i also don't have, so i must be content with simply owning the series...-.-'

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The next morning, Kaoru woke up a little later then she normally did, arriving downstairs at eight instead of six. Well, it was the weekend, so it's not like she had school or anything. She arrived in the kitchen to an array of smells, and a picturesque stack of pancakes were sitting on the table.

"Ooh, paaaaaaaaaancaaaaaaaakes..." Kaoru drooled, staring at them with wide eyes. Kenshin chuckled.

"You want some?" He asked. "Sano and Yahiko haven't eaten any yet..." at that moment, said hungry boys came stomping down the steps. "Spoke to soon," Kenshin muttered.

"FOOD!!! I WANT FOOD!!" one of them shouted, though who it was remained an open ended question, Sometimes, Kenshin just thought they merged together at mealtimes, so that they sounded the same, and ate just as much as the other. Kenshin handed out three plates, and piled each of them high with pancakes.

"YAY! FOOD!!" Sano exclaimed, digging into his stack. Kenshin just stared, silently nibbling on his own pancake, as he watched the two boys finish theirs in record time. Kaoru too ate feverishly, though slow enough to actually taste the pancake and enjoy it. She wiped her mouth on a napkin after finishing the last of them and turned to look at her younger brother.

"Yahiko, go get ready to go to Maekawa-Sensei's dojo. I told him we would come today. And besides, Kenshin's going to come along as well. Maekawa-sensei wants to see how much talent he has. It should be interesting." Yahiko groaned, sighed in acceptance, finished up the last of his stack mournfully, but still dragged his feet as he went and got into his workout clothes. Kenshin and Kaoru finished up eating, then the irritable kenjutsu princess dragged Sano into the living room, away from the kitchen, and left him sitting on the large couch with orders to not move until they finished. Sano sat there, arms crossed, as he waited for one of them to come back. Kenshin hid a bemused smile, somewhat amused and confused at her actions but waiting it out nonetheless.

Kenshin went upstairs, both to change and to grab his gym bag. He wasn't going anywhere without that bag. Not that he expected anything, but a real sword was so much better off then a wooden one. He hurried back downstairs in record time, wearing loose clothes and carrying his blue gym bag. Kauro and Yahiko were waiting for him.

"Ah, there you are. Come on now, we're off to the dojo! You coming Sano?" Kaoru turned to the tall teen who was still sitting on the couch. He thought for a moment, debating, then nodded. The four of them headed out the door and into the small BMW parked around the side. They piled in, and drove off into the heart of the city, towards Maekawa's dojo.

They arrived just as class was starting, much to the sensei's relief. It had been bandied about that Kaoru was coming, so many of the students actually showed up. Kaoru smiled and nodded at many of the people, most of them were teenagers, and walked over to Maekawa.

"See, I told you that I would drag Yahiko along. Sanosuke Sagara came as well, as did Kenshin." Maekawa's eyes landed on Kenshin, and he sized the teen up. While looks may be deceiving, he could tell that Kenshin did know how to use a sword. It was all in the way he held himself. The teen's eyes were deep, and, while his face was smiling, Maekawa sensed an inner turmoil, almost as if the smile was there to cover up some deeper emotion.

"So, you want to have a match now, or after class is over?" Kenshin sighed. He couldn't get out of this one. He had promised the man a match, and he couldn't go back on it now, as mutch as he would like too. _Next time, think before you leap Kenshin_.

"How about after class? Then we can let them have their exercise and this one won't be interrupting anything." Maekawa thought it over and nodded. They sat down on a little stage at the back of the dojo and watched as the students went after Kaoru. Not very many managed to land a blow.

"She is pretty good," Kenshin noted. Maekawa nodded.

"Her father was one of the best around here as well. He had another of the preeminent schools, but many dropped out after he died a year or so ago. Now Kaoru teaches young children. Yahiko seems pretty good. The boy has a lot of potential. Is he the oldest of her students?" Kenshin nodded. Just then, someone walked into the dojo, hat pulled down to cover his face. He walked straight up to Kenshin and dropped a note in his lap, then walked out.

Kenshin looked down, a feeling of dread taking hold. He knew who this note was from. He opened it anyway.

**Kenshin Himura (HB)**

**You are to come to the same dojo outside of town this afternoon at noon, **

**unless you wish your secret to be released into the media tonight,**

**and the house you are staying at will be burned, **

**along with everyone in it. **

**Shinko-Ryu**

Kenshin crumpled the paper, furious, but controlled his anger before he did anything drastic. Maekawa was looking over at the teen, noticing how his hands tightened on the paper, then were consciously relaxed.

"Is everything o.k., Kenshin?" Maekawa asked, concerned. Kenshin forced a smile on his face.

"Yes, all is fine. Nothing to worry about." Kenshin sat in silence, just waiting for something, anything, to come. Unfortunately and fortunately, nothing did, and class ended. The students filed out, waving good-bye's to their sensei and Kaoru as well as thanks. Within fifteen minutes, the dojo was empty, save for Yahiko, Kaoru and Sano.

Maekawa picked up two of the practice swords, light shinai, and handed one to Kenshin. He took it, measuring it carefully, unsure of the dimensions of this type of sword, and stood opposite the sensei in the middle of the floor. His anger still burned, but was held in tight control. He couldn't let _him_ get control of this match. It would not be allowed.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kenshin asked, hoping that maybe he would get out of it. Maekawa nodded his head. Kenshin sighed. No use getting out of it that soon. They faced off. Maekawa stared Kenshin down, his eyes trying to bore their way into his head. No such luck.

Since Kenshin was still running on anger, he wasn't in full control of his emotions no matter how hard he tried to be. He looked at the sensei, his senses heightened, his reflexes faster. And the man opposing him gulped. Kenshin's eyes had turned an amber-violet color, and they were filled with anger. This man, no, _child_ was dangerous. Now that he thought about it, Maekawa thought he had smelled blood on the child.

"You are the challenger." Kenshin stated, his voice still sounding slightly like the Kenshin they knew. So he was in control partly. Maekawa shoved his fear aside. His school wasn't the best for nothing. He charged towards the boy, but no one was there.

"Over here." Kenshin's voice came from behind him. Maekawa turned sharply. This boy was inhumanly fast. Then the boy's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall, and they widened. It was 11:20. He only had forty minutes to get to the dojo. He decided to end it fast. He rushed at the man and hit him lightly with a side slash. Unfortunately, it wasn't as light as he would have liked. Maekawa flew backwards and landed a good five feet from where he had been standing. He groaned, then got back on his feet.

_'Persistent old man. I really need to get going.' 'Then let me take over.'_ Voice pleaded. _'No. That's that. I will not become the battosai again. Not ever.' _Kenshin yanked his thoughts from his internal struggle, returning to the outside world, and looked at the man who was slowly walking towards him. By looking at him, Kenshin could tell that there weren't any broken bones. Shinai couldn't do much damage.

"Pretty lucky shot there. Not bad power. But I won't fall for it again." He took the ready stance again. Kenshin sighed.

_'LUCKY? Beat him to bits Kenshin! Now!' _This inner battle was putting a strain on Kenshin's mind. Finally, he just sighed and glanced over at the sensei. He really didn't want to do this. He put the shinai at his side, and took a stance that the man didn't recognize. In fact, none of those watching, Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko to be exact, knew what it was. Maekawa stared for a moment, evaluating, then he too took a stance, though this one was familiar. His shinai was in front of him, held at an angle to the ground, and his face was grim.

As he started the attack, Kenshin's shinai flashed out, faster then the eye could see, and knocked the bamboo out of the sensei's hands. Then it hit him full in the chest, sending him flying. He slumped to the ground, dazed, a little bruised, maybe a fractured rib or two, but otherwise ok. Kenshin had been careful. The teen dropped the sword and turned to the door, about to go give this Shinko-Ryu a piece of his mind. He stopped suddenly when he heard the sensei groan from behind him.

"Nice sparing with you Kenshin." Maekawa said, slowly sitting up, despite the pain. "I hope we can do it again sometime soon. I could tell that you were going easy on me. Oh, and some advice. Don't just give up on everything. Try again, try to make it right." Kenshin smiled at these words. If only it were that easy. Nothing was ever easy, especially for Kenshin.

"Sorry, this one must go. This one will see you at the house." Kenshin waved and ran out the front door. Kaoru, Sano, and Yahiko watched at Kenshin left, then turned to the man still on the floor.

"Um, did you know he was that good with a sword?" Kaoru snuck a glance at Sano, who shook his head. Maekawa looked over.

"If you look in his eyes, you can't see the bottom. Those eyes, they're so deep. I don't even know if there is a bottom. They just go on forever. I knew I was going to lose the moment I challenged him, at the mall. But that note he got. It's probably something very important." Maekawa's eyes were distant, staring off to an unknown end. Sano and Yahiko stared at where Kenshin went.

Said teen, at the moment, was running full speed to the outer edge of the city. As he turned right, he saw the decrepit dojo, sticking out like a sore thumb. He slowed down to a walk, and cautiously entered. In the middle of the room, he saw the same man who had given him the letter earlier.

"What do you want with me?" He snarled, furious. The man grinned.

"I want you to join me in taking out this stupid democratic government that is now running this country." He said, teeth showing. "My name is Isurugi Raijuta. I am the head of the Shinko-Ryu. Hello Battosai." Kenshin grew glacially calm.

"So that was your reason to threaten this one with burning Miss Kaoru's house to the ground?" He said softly. For those who didn't know him, he seemed to be perfectly calm. In fact, he was quite the opposite. If it was possible, he wanted to ring Isurugi Raijuta's neck. But he wasn't going to kill anyone anymore, so he was going to have to deal with beating him. "To make this one join you?"

"Of course. Nothing else would have gotten you out here in the first place." Raijuta pulled out his sword and barred it at Kenshin. The teen put down the blue gym bag and reached in, pulling out the sheath of an old sword. "What kind of sword is that?" He asked in bewilderment when Kenshin unsheathed it. Kenshin looked over.

"This sword is a sakabato. The blade edge and the dull edge are reversed. It was given to this one a long time ago." Raijuta sneered.

"So, the rumors were true. You told the commander that when you left, you wouldn't kill anymore. What a pitiful existence." His sword swung up. "You might want to give up on that pretty ideal if you want to beat me!" Kenshin held up the sakabato as the other sword swung down. Then Raijuta's sword began to waver. _'Huh? What's this?' _Kenshin stood for a second, staring at it. _'MOVE YOU IDIOT!'_ Voice yelled. This seemed to snap the teen to his senses, and he jumped out of the way, but just barely. A wave of energy emitted from the place where the sword hit the ground, much like one of his attacks, Dorusen. Raijuta stopped his attack in surprise.

'He dodged it? But no one's ever dodged my izuna! He's stronger then I gave him credit for.' Raijuta thought, a sweat drop slipping down his face. While he had been thinking, Kenshin had taken advantage of the situation. The next thing Raijuta saw and felt was black, and extreme pain in his head. "Ouch" was the last word he uttered before he fainted.

Kenshin landed lightly on the ground, looked back at the man on the floor, and sighed. Raijuta wasn't as strong as he boasted. Well, the guy was bound to come after him again. For now, he would let him sulk over his defeat. Kenshin picked up the dropped sheath and placed the sword inside. Then he left, heading back to the dojo where his friends were waiting. This Shinko-Ryu would have to be dealt with sooner rather than later, and if Voice got his way, it would be permanently. Kenshin could not let that happen.

As is feet led him instinctively towards Kaoru's house, he looked down at the small cut he had received dodging that strange sword attack. It wasn't bleeding all that much, and it wasn't very deep. But when he pressed down on it, he couldn't feel anything. So, it had cut the nerves. _Well, in a small cut, they might heal up on their own._ He didn't realize that his friends were only a street away, on the other side of the houses he himself was walking by. He also hadn't realized that he had left the gym bag at the dojo with Raijuta. How soon he was going to find out his mistake.

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Back at Maekawa's dojo, right after Kenshin left, the three teens were congregated in a huddle, debating on their next course of action as Kaoru helped Maekawa. They were all differing in opinion and Maekawa was offering no assistance in their course of action.

"Let's follow him," Sano finally decided. Yahiko nodded in agreement, and the two of them started to walk out the door. "Kaoru, you coming?" The girl was currently tending to Maekawa and paused, nodded and finished her wrapping. She bowed to the man, thanking him, then followed, bringing her shinai along as well.

"Kaoru-chan?" the girl swirled at the old man's voice, her blue eyes radiating curiosity. "Please, do not be too harsh on the boy. And be careful in what you say. Kenshin is very guarded and dislikes prying." His cryptic words made little sense to them, but Kaoru was determined to find out the secret behind the enigma that was Kenshin.

"I understand Sensei. I will. Thank you," she said, bowing again. Then, turning on her heel, she led Sano and Yahiko out the dojo's doors to search for their wayward friend.

The three of them started to trail the almost invisible tracks that Kenshin had left, asking people along the way if they had seen a short, red-headed boy running past here. They all pointed in the same direction, out of the city. It would take them a good forty minutes to even get to the edge of San Francisco.

"Wonder why he's going there. Must have some sort of business to do." Sano commented. As they reached the outskirts of the city, they turned right, and came face to face with an old dojo, obviously run down and in desperate need of repair. They heard nothing but silence, and, hoping for the best, figured Kenshin had already left. When they walked in, just to be sure, they found a man face down on the floor, unconscious. There was also a deep cut going through the center of room, as if some invisible force had sliced through the wood. Eyes widened and stared at the damage, all minds wondering the same thing.

_'What the hell had gone on here? Where was Kenshin? What did he have to do with any of this?' _ When none voice these questions and no answers were volunteered, they turned their attention to the man who was unconscious on the floor.

"Isn't that the man who had given Kenshin the note?" Kaoru pointed out. Sano and Yahiko shrugged, then looked closer at the lifeless man.

"It might be, I never saw his face, so I couldn't be sure, but it sure looks like it," Sano said. Kaoru turned to her young pupil, who had been standing in almost complete awe of the destruction around him.

"Do you think that Kenshin did all this?" Yahiko asked. The other two didn't reply. They were too busy staring around at the damage. "If he did," Kaoru began, "I want to know where he learned how, and why he'd not in national level competition."

Come on you two. It's obvious that Kenshin isn't here, so we might as well leave. He's probably headed home as we speak. This might not even be his doing. Let's go." Kaoru turned to leave, but as she did, her eyes caught on a blue gym bag. She stopped. Wasn't that Kenshin's bag? She picked it up and turned to Sano, a question written plainly on her face. Sano walked over and took the bag from her.

"Yeah, this is his. So, he was here." Sano made a show of inspecting the bag. Then he slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the dojo, leaving the unconscious man behind him. Kaoru and Yahiko glanced around the room once more, then followed the tall teenager. Kaoru wanted answers and she was determined to get them as she stomped back towards Maekawa's dojo, black hair swinging in it's pony-tail. The boys stayed silent, unwilling to pester the unhappy teenage girl. All they did was follow her back the way they had come.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kenshin arrived at the dojo, and walked in. Much to his surprise, the only person there was Maekawa, on the dais in the back of the room. Maekawa opened his eyes, then they widened when they landed on Kenshin, flickering to his left and back up to the boy's face. The teen looked at his side, and his own eyes widened.

The teen cursed, realizing why people had stared at him strangely. He had forgotten the gym bag and had just shoved his sword into his belt out of habit, unaware he had even done so. "This one can explain the sword!" Kenshin raised his hands up, surrendering. Maekawa shook his head.

"I have a pretty good idea of who you are, Mr. Himura. And I won't turn you over if you can give me a reasonably good explanation on why you are here, in California." Kenshin sighed, then walked over to where the man was sitting and joined him. Maekawa stared at the red-head, watching the fluid grace in which he did everything, almost unconsciously. As he sat down, he propped the blade against his shoulder instinctively. The sensei noted how very guarded a person he was once more, and for good reason.

Kenshin sighed, his eyes unfocused and he seemed to be staring off into the distance, trying to come up with a way to tell his side of the story without being handed in.

"Well, the reason this one is in California because that is where sesha was born. Ever since my family moved from Japan to here, the Himura line has been kept. This one is the last remaining person, besides Hiko Seijuro, this one's master. This one's parents died in a plane crash, of which sesha was the only survivor. Taken in by my uncle, who was the heir to the Hiten Mitsurugi style, this one was taught the ways until he was twelve, when he went to help the people, by aiding the government, or so one thought."

"This one has been to every country for the government. Though it was a grave mistake, one was only a child when he began assassinations, all of twelve years old." Kenshin ignored the man's gasp of horror.

"When one was sixteen, he drafted for the army, to fight those who wished to harm the innocents, to try and pay back some of the wrong he had done in his life. And sesha left it when one was nineteen, traveling back home with the intention of never killing again. The sword will not kill either, unless it is turned over." Kenshin unsheathed the blade and showed it to the sensei.

"A sakabato. I've only heard of these. Where did you get it?" Kenshin looked at him.

"This one received it a long time ago, from a friend, of sorts. This one will not kill again. He refuses to." Kenshin looked down, slightly depressed. "Are you going to turn this one in?" Maekawa shook his head, brown eyes swirling with mixed emotions. Kenshin was a child wronged in a world where such practices should not have existed.

"No. I'm not saying what you did was right, and the reasons are your own, but the fact that the government used you is low, even for politicians. I won't hand you back to them, just to be used again. And besides, I don't think any harm will come from having someone as skilled as yourself around." Kenshin smiled, warm and bright.

"But, about Sanosuke Sagara…isn't he the son of…." Kenshin raised his hand.

"This one already knows. And one hopes that if my friends ever find out, they can be as forgiving as you have been. This one thanks you. And speaking of friends, where did they go?" Kenshin looked, puzzled, as Maekawa acquired a sheepish expression.

"Well, they decided to follow you, and find out where you went…hehe." Maekawa rubbed his head as Kenshin's eyes flashed open, wide and staring. Then he ran out of the dojo, heading back to the one he had left not that long ago.

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RK15: Ok, I couldn't resist but to leave it off there! I'm sorry! but now that i have my story back, i promise to update faster!! 

**Draconic Ban-Sidhe**: Ok, here's the chapter! Hope it answers your questions!

**DragonWolfStar**: Heh, i know how that feels. Thanks for the review though!!!

**starfruit-22**: Thank you for the support! It's great to get a review from one who enjoys this!

**Chosha Kurenai**: Oh, wow, Sankyuu...I'm so happy you find this interesting! Thank you for you comments. They really helped when i went to edit this chapter. If you find anything here, feel free to tell me. I'm always looking for a way to improve! Arigato!

**MarbleGlove**: Thank you! I'm glad someone appreciates it! I was hoping i did alright with the characters and it's always nice to hear that i did a good job from a reviewer!

**Alexandria Jaganshi**: Thank you so much!! I appreciate it!

**Kitsune Kida: **Thank you for the review! I'm glad you liked it! Here's the update!

**flip-flop108:** Awe, thank you! It's a pleasure when someone says that! I was so happy that you like it enough to reread it! You know, it was that review that kicked me in the rear and said 'Look, now that you have your storied back, why don't you UPDATE MORON!' I appreciated it!

RK15: THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS AND REVIEWERS!! POCKY TO ALL!! Constructive (note the word CONSTRUCTIVE) criticism is welcomed and wanted. All flames will be fed to Voice, who would probably appreciate the extra fire. Kenshin might not though...


	5. A Rather Hectic Afternoon

RK15: Hey Look, iI'm Back! and a whole hell of a lot faster than last time!! See, I can update regularly...-.-'

Cai: (shocked) wow, you actually got something up! amazing!

RK15: Stop being so condescending. That's how you scare all my plot bunnies away!

Cai: Aw poor RK. Deal.

RK15: Wow, you're grumpy.

Cai: Oh, yes, I wonder if it has anything to do with your fifty minute long nature walk at seven in the morning in high altitude?

RK15: (pout)

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I have yet to find a way to own Rurouni Kenshin, much to my chagrin. Oh, woe is me. My favorite anime must forever remain out of my reach. Well, at least I can still own the manga...sigh.

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Lucky for him, he ran into his friends not that far away. They were heading for Kaoru's house, and Sano had that blue bag over his shoulder. To avoid awkward questions if they saw his sword, he grabbed the bag from Sano as he raced by, shoving in the sakabato and stopping in one smooth motion.

"What the?????" Sano exclaimed, turning as he saw a blur shoot past. When he saw Kenshin, with his bag on his shoulder, his confusion automatically switched into, 'this is Kenshin' mode, where nothing was impossible. He shrugged off how the teen had gotten there. Unfortunately for said teen, Kaoru and Yahiko weren't thrown that easily.

"Where did you come from, why was your bag in an old dojo, and how did that man get unconscious?" Kaoru asked in rapid succession. Kenshin laughed nervously.

"One came from Maekawa-sensei's dojo, the bag was left there accidentally, and well, the man….he fainted?" Kenshin wasn't a very good liar, and the teens, excluding Sano from the picture, saw right through this.

"So, where did that cut come from, mister?" Kaoru asked, pointing to the small wound on his upper arm. Kenshin glanced down, not even realizing he still hadn't covered it up. Kenshin stiffened.

"Uh, well, one caught it on a metal wire when he was running over here. It's nothing, really." Kenshin tried to hold Kaoru off, but the girl was determined. She stalked over to Kenshin, and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing the wound to full light, much to the teenager's protest.

"Man, Kaoru sure is protective," Yahiko muttered to Sano, who was watching the scene, amused. He nodded, noticing that the red-head gave up on stopping Kaoru, instead just standing, resigned to his fate, and letting the girl look at the wound.

"Oh my god! This looks serious! It's pretty deep. How on earth did you manage to cut yourself like this?" She was saying, scrutinizing the wound. Kenshin raised a hand in protest.

"But it's really not all that bad. Doesn't even hurt, see?" He swung his arm around in circles, ignoring the pain that radiated from the wound. Just because it didn't hurt to the touch doesn't man that moving the injured arm wouldn't pain him some. Kaoru looked disbelieving, but let it go for the moment. She was still intent on making the red-head talk but she would much rather do it where she could yell a bit louder. Without a word, she turned from Kenshin and walked primly back to her house, the three guys trailing along behind her.

"So, how did you really get that wound?" Yahiko asked slyly. Kenshin looked at him, his eyes saying, 'Do you really think I'm going to tell you?' Yahiko sighed. Kenshin just kept way too many things to himself. They walked back, silent, and reached the house in about ten minutes.

Kaoru could remain quiet for only so long, however, and soon turned to Kenshin, who was sitting on the couch, immersed in a show about a dog-eared boy with a giant sword, the show itself titled Inuyasha. "How in the world did you manage to beat Maekawa sensei?" she exclaimed.

"Wha?" Kenshin muttered, dragging his eyes away from the TV. They landed on Kaoru's scowling face. "Uh, well, as this one said to Maekawa sensei at the mall, one picked up things, here and there, from different places." _'It's not really lying.' _Kenshin once again reassured himself. _'Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Soon, you'll even believe it too.'_ The proverbial door shut with a snap.

"Right, and I'm a boy. Where did you really learn it? You can't cobble things together like that and manage to be so good, without proper training." Kenshin was sweating. Kaoru's eyes bored into his own, searching for the truth. The teen wracked his brain for a believable lie. _'You know, all you have to do is tell them the truth, that you learned when you were young. That would work.'_ Voice offered, opening the door with the ease of a burglar. Kenshin jumped at the lie with the eagerness of a puppy chasing his tail. Apparently his inner self was much better at the untruth than he was.

"This one learned swordsmanship when he was very young, and kept in practice over the years." Ok, so this was closer to the truth. Kaoru stared at him for a few more moments.

"Fine. Sure, whatever. Don't tell me the whole truth. It's not like we're in a court of law or anything." She stalked off, nose in the air. Kenshin stared after her, thinking that girls were way too touchy. Then he turned back to his show and re-immersed himself into it.

Thirty minutes later, someone knocked on the door, the sound urgent and demanding. Kenshin pulled himself away from the TV and went to answer it, glad the show had hit a commercial and he wouldn't miss anything. Unfortunately, for him, two girls were on the other side, and one was hyperactive.

"HELLO!!!!" Misao yelled, her voice reverberating around the house and Kenshin's head, drilling into his ears and probably rupturing an eardrum. Megumi was on the other side of Misao and she was shaking her head. Her face was a picture of mock sadness, and she had given up on trying to restrain the girl.

"Her grandfather gave her a soda before I could stop him," Megumi explained to Kaoru, who had just been bombarded by a pillow coming down the stairs. Misao was jumping up and down, celebrating. Kaoru blanched, looking over at the pillow throwing monster that was, currently, flipping through channels. The teens black hair had fallen into her face and she pushed it away irritably to glare at the teen who was currently making her living room their personal trampoline.

"Ah, doesn't he know what happens when he gives her caffeine of any kind?" Kaoru asked, stammering. Megumi shook her head, then her eyes caught on Kenshin's upper arm. She walked over and grabbed it, pushing up the sleeve, despite the teen's protests, and inspected the cut, which Kenshin had yet to bandage, which he was currently hittin ghimself repeatedly for. The women in his life were way too nosy for their own good.

"Where did you get this? It's a very strange cut." Megumi looked into Kenshin's violet eyes, her own blue ones very serious. Kenshin gulped.

"This one was running and caught it on a wire. It's nothing serious, really," Kenshin said. Megumi looked disbelieving, just as Kaoru had. Kenshin sighed. No one believed him anymore.

"Right, you can't cut the nerves on a wire. It looks more like a very sharp knife or something, but even a knife couldn't do this kind of damage……" Her eyes studied the wound again. "Little to no bleeding, no pain in the general area, and nerves cut…more like a vacuum or something." Megumi was talking to herself. Kenshin heard her diagnosis, his eyes widened. So that was what that wavering was. The difference in air pressure as the sword swung down. Kaoru noticed his expression.

"What's wrong Kenshin?" She asked, walking over and peering over Megumi's shoulder. The doctor-in-training was slowly tracing the wound, then went to Kaoru's bathroom and grabbed gauze, Neosporin, and alcohol pads. Kenshin paled slightly. He hated the alcohol pads. They stung. And hurt. A lot. He started to back away slowly, but when Megumi came back out with the kit and saw Kenshin attempting to get away, she pulled out a tranquilizer. Kenshin froze.

"Where in the world did you get hold of that? I thought they were illegal." Sano commented, poking his head in to see the action. He had heard the noise and decided that whatever he was playing with Yahiko on the playstation upstairs was nowhere near as interesting as watching Kenshin get fussed over. When he saw the teen standing, frozen to the floor, he laughed and yelled for Yahiko to come see. The youngest ran for the living room, taking the stairs two at a time, joining everyone else. He walked in to see Megumi, Kaoru, and Misao struggling to get Kenshin's shirt off.

Now, to someone who had just walked in and missed everything, this was a very bad time to interrupt. He turned to Sano, who was leaning against the wall and watching with an amused expression.

"Uh, Sano? What are they doing to Kenshin?" He asked, wondering if he even wanted to know. Sano pointed to the medical kit sitting on the floor not to far away from where the struggle was taking place.

"They're trying to bandage up that cut Kenshin got. They want to check and make sure he doesn't have anymore, but he doesn't want them to take his shirt off. And for good reason too. Imagine what Megumi would do if she saw all those pretty scars he has," Sano commented. Unfortunately, for Kenshin at least, they did manage to at least tear the shirt to pieces in their attempt to take it off. Sano whistled low in throat, and Yahiko tensed, waiting for the outburst from the girls.

It didn't take long. While Misao had gone off somewhere else when the fun was over, Kaoru and Megumi sat and stared at Kenshin, who was laying, dazed and swirly eyed, in the middle of the tatters of his shirt. His stomach was a mass of muscle, overlaid with scars, small and large. His shoulders were wide for his body, and powerful, as were his arms. Scars decorated them. And one, long scar wrapped itself from his shoulders, around to his back, and then to his waist, disappearing into his jeans. Megumi's eyes were wide, pupils dilated until you could almost not see any of the original color. Kaoru's were the same. Shock had taken effect on the two.

Kenshin sat up, rubbing his head, and glared over at the girls. Then, when he saw their faces, he realized he didn't have his shirt on anymore. He started to blush, and ran upstairs into his room, and slammed to door, leaving the shell-shocked girls on the floor. Sano and Yahiko walked over, shaking them back to the real world.

The first thing Megumi did was open and close her mouth a few times, trying to say something, anything. "Did you know he had all those scars?" Kaoru managed to articulate. Megumi shook her head, but Sano and Yahiko backed away. Kaoru glanced over at the, noticing the looks on their faces.

"You two knew, didn't you?" She asked them, already knowing the answer. They nodded, then ran for Kenshin's room and knocked furiously.

"Hey, Kenshin, old buddy, old pal, old friend, let us in before the girls kill us! PLEASE!!!" Sano shouted, staring back at the stairs where said girls were making their way up to them. A noise, like someone shoving something somewhere, came from inside, then the door was opened and the two teens collapsed inside as Kenshin re-shut the door and locked it.

The teen had a new shirt on, and his face was solemn. When he turned to the two intruders sitting on the floor, they could tell that he was upset, though at what, they weren't sure. Kenshin turned away from them and sat on his bed, fingers running the length of the cross shaped scar on his cheek. His eyes were distant. Sano and Yahiko stood up and walked over to him, sitting next to him.

"Hey, kid. You ok?" Sano asked, shaking Kenshin out of his trance. He shook his head to clear it, then looked over, smile plastered on his face. "Yeah, perfect. Just a little shaken up, that's all. Didn't actually expect them to get my shirt off. Sort of startled this one when they saw them all. Now they'll want to know how, when, why, etc." Kenshin sounded resigned to his fate. Sano and Yahiko were concerned. They had never really heard Kenshin sound depressed. A little down perhaps, but not depressed.

"I have an idea! I used to run in here when Kaoru got mad at me, cause she has a key to every other room, and decided, in case I got stuck in here again, I would put stuff in here. There's a TV, Xbox, games, and movies!" Yahiko pulled out each as he spoke, though the TV caused him a few problems because it was a pretty big one. Sano cheered instantly, and even Kenshin smiled.

"AWSOME LITTLE MAN!!! WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED!!" Sano patted Yahiko on the head. They helped him set the TV and Xbox up, then chose a few games and a couple movies, Kenshin picking Inuyasha ones both times; he had become obsessed with it. Yahiko pulled out three controllers, and a cord that plugs in and then lets three controllers play. Kenshin didn't even bother with a vote on which game to play; he just grabbed the Inuyasha one, placed it in the Xbox, and started the machine. Yahiko and Sano sat and watched as Kenshin took on a crazed expression as the screen came to life and sword appeared on the set.

Blip beep bip bop boup _**Inuyasha**_The animatronic voice filtered out of the TV. The menu came up, and Kenshin scrolled down to 'New Game'. The next page was where you picked your character. Kenshin automatically chose Inuyasha, leaving Sano and Yahiko to choose from Miroku, Sango, Kagome, and Shippo. The two of them sighed. Kenshin was mental. They didn't even know what Inuyasha was, much less who the characters were. Sano looked closely at the screen, carefully choosing, and ended picking the monk, at Kenshin's insistence. Yahiko's person was also Kenshin's choice, and he ended up being a little fox thing.

"Uh, Kenshin, we don't even know what this whole thing is about? What is Inuyasha?" Sano asked. Kenshin looked over, surprised. Then he proceeded to give them a detailed history of Inuyasha, leaving the two others even more confused then before, though they nodded in understanding to avoid more explanations.

About thirty minutes into the game, Kenshin was yelling at the game. "You stupid thing! Kikyo is supposed to DIE!!! NO! NOT THAT WAY!! GODDAMMIT!!! MOVE!!! KILL KIKYO!!" He was shaking his fist at the screen as his character walked up to a lady in white and red, and preceded to talk to her and hug her. Sano and Yahiko watched, shocked, as Kenshin proceeded to get on his feet and stalk towards the TV.

"You know, I think we might want to get him, before he breaks the TV," Yahiko commented. Sano nodded his assent, but both of them just sat and watched, to amused to do anything else. Finally, just as Kenshin reached the Xbox, Sano reached over and turned the TV off. Kenshin spluttered a moment, then stared at the now blank screen.

"Where did my Inuyasha go?" he whined, looking like a petulant child. Sano got up and walked over to him.

"Inuyasha had to go away now. He had to go bye bye. But now, we need to go downstairs and eat something, okay? We've been up here for an hour, and the girls most likely have dinner done. Ok Kenshin?" Sano said in a voice used for little kids. Kenshin nodded.

"Okay." He turned from the room and left, head hanging. Yahiko was laughing so hard he was silent, tears streaming down his face. After Kenshin left, Sano turned to the other boy, who had regained control of himself. "I think we shouldn't let Kenshin have anymore Inuyasha for a while. That was scary." Yahiko nodded. Quickly, they took any and all Inuyasha CD's, DVD's and games they could find and hid them on the highest shelf in Yahiko's room. Satisfied, they turned as one and headed downstairs, where the clink of silverware being put on the table was accompanied by the sounds of cooking. Their eyes widened, and they looked at each other in horror. If Kaoru was cooking….

Both let that thought trail off as they rushed down the stairs. They slid into the kitchen, panting, and saw a girl with long black hair at the stove.

"AH! Kaoru's cooki…." Sano and Yahiko were on the floor in an instant, hit in the head by Kaoru, who was standing behind them, holding a wooden sword in her hand. Kenshin glanced over, holding a stack of plates in his hands.

"Payback for not telling us about Kenshin," Kaoru muttered, looking down at the boys now swirly eyed with large bumps making themselves known.

"Well, that takes care of them until dinner," Megumi commented from the stove, her hair pulled back in a pony tail to keep it out of her face.

"What's all the noise about?" Misao asked, bounding into the kitchen and almost stepping on the two boys laying, sprawled, on the ground. "Oh, I see." She bounced back out, leaving three confused teens to stare at her back.

An hour later, after Sano and Yahiko had woken up and eaten in sullen silence, they crowded around the TV, Kaoru holding up two movies while Misao bounced around the room, though it was apparent that the sugar was wearing off.

"Ok, I don't care which movie we watch, so, who wants to watch Pride and Prejudice? Raise hands." Only Megumi did. She lowered it gloomily. "Who wants to watch Pitch Black, then the Chronicles of Riddick?" six hands shot up. "Pitch Black it is. And Yahiko? You can only vote once." The boy glared at her.

Kaoru put the DVD into the player, then ordered her young charge to go get popcorn while she started the movie. Yahiko stuck his tongue out at her, obviously unimpressed at having to do all the slave work, but when Kaoru gave him a fierce glare and a thrown wooden spoon, he stomped off to do as she asked. The rest of them settled on couches, or the floor, as the sounds of popcorn popping and the aroma of fresh popcorn reached them. Sano lifted his head and sniffed.

"Ah, I love popcorn."

"Yes, we know. Especially after you ate all of it available last time we watched a movie over here. Actually, you didn't even wait until it was popped. You just downed the whole bag un-popped, then spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Rather interesting, really." Sano glared at Megumi, who had stated all this in a calm voice. Kenshin looked, amused, over at Sano.

"And you say this one is obsessed." Sano gave Kenshin a withering look.

"When you start yelling at a game and then try to break the TV in half because Inu-something or other is hugging Kikyo, or whoever, then you're obsessed." Kaoru raised an eyebrow at the red-head. Kenshin glared at Sano, who was looking rather superior.

"Not any worse then the time you got in trouble in math because you were asleep, then hit the teacher when he slapped your book on your desk." Kenshin retorted. The mocking looks were given now to Sano, who turned to the smug teen.

"Oh, yeah, and the time when you were called up in Mr. Shiko's class to demonstrate how to do a proper pushup, and he put six books on your back. And you still managed to do over a hundred in under….oh, let's see, three minutes or so." Sano knew where to hit. Kenshin hated being the center of attention because of something he did.

"What about the time you almost ran into a car walking to school." The comebacks kept getting stupider, and weirder, as time wore on. Finally, when it got to the point that they were calling each other names and 'yo mamma jokes' were being exchanged, Kaoru hit both of them on the head, told them to sit down and shut the hell up, then went to get Yahiko, who was taking way to long to make popcorn.

She came back, dragging said boy by the ear and holding the bowl, full of popcorn, in her free hand. She practically dropped both on the ground, and the only reason the popcorn didn't spill was because Sano lunged for it, catching it right before it hit the ground, upside down.

"Aha, saved," He rejoiced as Kaoru started the movie. They all got quite as it started, eyes glued to the screen as they watched Riddick and the rest of the survivors' fight their way through hordes of flying man eaters on a distant planet. Megumi shuddered and hid her face behind Sano as the blood started to pour. Kenshin watched with morbid fascination as the creatures began to eat the people unlucky enough to get caught. He was silently cheering on both Riddick and young Jack, who was a girl, to make it off alive.

When the movie ended, and Kaoru popped out the disk, the three visitors looked at the clock. Well, actually, only Sano and Megumi looked. Misao had fallen asleep, to everyone's amazement, during the movie.

"We need to call home, ask if we can sleep over." Sano said. Megumi nodded, agreeing. "And we'll call Misao's grandparents for her. They should let her." Sano walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed a few numbers, then handed it off to Kaoru. 'MISAO'S' he mouthed to the girl holding the phone. She nodded in understanding.

"Hello, is this Mr. Okina?" Kaoru asked. She waited a second, listening to the reply. "This is Kaoru Kamiya. I was wondering if Misao could sleep over?" she paused. "Well, the reason Misao isn't asking you herself is because she, well, she fell asleep already." She stopped, and laughter could be heard clearly on the other line. "Thank you. I'll send her home tomorrow morning at ten or so. Bye." Kaoru hung up the phone, then walked back to the couch Misao had fallen asleep on. "God, you're more trouble then you look, you know that?" the sleeping girl shifted, then turned over, muttering something about the muffin man.

"Ok, my turn." Sano lifted the phone off the hook. Six minutes later, after both Sano and Megumi had gotten consent to stay, Kaoru lifter up the next DVD in the series.

'This is the Chronicles of Riddick: Director's Cut. Want to watch it?" The only person who didn't was, naturally, Megumi. She was outvoted though, and was stuck watching another action movie. The film started, and everyone still awake was absorbed instantly, with the exception of Megumi, who was hidden once again behind Sano.

"Not afraid of the dark, are you?" Sano whispered in a hushed voice. The only ones awake were Kenshin and Sano. The others had fallen asleep long ago, and the movie was over. The two looked at each other, then the clock. It was midnight.

"Maybe we should go to bed." Sano yawned, his jaws creaking. Kenshin nodded, and waited until the tall teen leaned against the side of the couch. He was asleep in an instant, snoring lightly, Megumi laying on his side. The former hitokiri looked slowly around the room, at people who were more than happy to call him their friend. It was simply amazing what the human heart could accomplish, Kenshin thought.

_Just remember what you're hiding from them boy. You know they will eventually come after you. They didn't want you to leave in the first place and running from them was not such a good idea. _

_You think I don't know that already you stupid voice? I know what they will do. I just don't know if I can leave behind the only people who have looked at me like I was a human being for the past seven years. _

_Are you willing to risk their friendship on your shady past yet?_

Kenshin sighed deeply. _I don't know yet. I really don't know._

_You are going to have to figure it out sooner or later. If you want them to know, you're going to have to deal with the consequences._

_Just, shut up for now voice. Just shut up. _With a sigh, the boy slammed the door on his voice and locked it tight. Glancing at the clock, 2:45, Kenshin stood up slowly and walked quietly up the stairs. He tiptoed back down, his sword in hand. He never slept without it, no matter where he was. He leaned up against the wall, sword propped on his shoulder, and fell into a light sleep.

* * *

RK15: I must say, I'm glad I'm getting this out faster than before. Yes, this was a filler, more or less, and I think the only purpose it solved was to ground Kenshin's friendship with the rest of the group. Sorta. And just for fun. Yes, Kenshin was a little OOC. Deal.

Thank You To:

Chosha Kurenai: Maybe. That seems like the most viable option at the moment. That scene will probably show up within the next few chapters, I hope….-.-'

**Randa-chan**: Arigato!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MadzCheesyfied: Appreciate it!!! Thanks!!

starfruit-22: You know it! I'm glad, though I'm not sure I'm as big as you seem to think I am. I value that though! It always makes my day when a reader likes what I write!!!

RK15: THANK YOU TO ALL REVIEWERS!! YOU GET POCKY!!! Oh, and I'm looking for reader input. I have a few ideas. Vote for the one you like the best, please!!!

1.The government sends an old friend out to track Kenshin down and bring him back to the government.  
2.Kenshin leaves of his own accord after his secret is revealed to all of his friends.  
3.Voice manages to gain control and takes him back to headquarters.

And what the Kenshingumi do about it is……

1. Attempt a full scale rescue mission solo.  
2. Gain the reluctant help of one Hiko Seijuro to get Kenshin back.

Any other ideas are more than welcome. I have a rough idea where I want to go with this but I would love to see what you all want!!!!!

Ruruken15 a.k.a. Kuroi-chan


	6. Unexpected Encounter

**BMF:** See! I be back! (smile) Enjoy! Surprise coming up!!!!

* * *

The next morning, Kenshin was the first to awake, just managing to get upstairs and into his room before Misao woke. She looked around, wondering where she was. A noise from the second floor caused her to turn he head, searching for the source of the sound.

"Ah, hey Kenshin. You sure get up early. What time is it anyway?" She yawned, and got to her feet, heading for the kitchen, not waiting for an answer. "Breakfast. Need breakfast. And coffee. God, it's too early." Misao disappeared through the kitchen door. Kenshin had a feeling that he shouldn't let her have coffee, but by the time he got to the kitchen it was already too late. Misao had a cup of the stuff in her hand and was downing it.

"Wonderful!" She exclaimed, practically slamming her cup on the counter. Kenshin waited for a moment, gauging to see how much caffeine she had, then gave up and started breakfast.

Deciding the rest of the teens needed to get up, Kenshin smirked. Taking the frying pan, bacon, and olive oil out, he set them on the counter. Then he set oil heating up on the stove, took a few pieces of bacon, waited until the oil was sizzling, then dropped the meat on. A loud noise spread threw the house, sizzling.

"WHAT THE HELL!!" Came a voice from the living room. A loud thump, cursing, and someone hitting someone else reached the kitchen. Kenshin smirked. He waited for the first of them to come stumbling into the kitchen, and finished up breakfast just as they arrived, puffy eyed and a few with red handprints on their faces. Those were the boys.

"What the hell just happened?" Sano mumbled, turning to the short teen standing at the stove. Said teen turned, and brandished the frying pan.

"My way of getting you four up. Worked quite well, don't you think?" Sano groaned. Kenshin could be positively evil sometimes, but the worst part was he looked like an innocent child. They all sat at the table, and were soon joined by a caffeine hyped Misao. She bounced in, around, under, and even on the table as she made her way around the kitchen. Automatically, all four heads turned in Kenshin's direction, and he could feel the heat form their glares. He quailed.

"Did you let her have coffee?" Megumi asked in a quiet voice. Kenshin gulped, then nodded hesitantly. He held up plate of food in his defense, making the four ready to attack him begrudgingly settle down. Kenshin set the food down on the table, and it was soon devoured by four hungry lions.

Later on in the day, as it wore slowly by, they were all sitting in the living room, entertained by a hyper-active Misao. The form of this entertainment was the fact that they had given her a pair of Chinese finger cuffs, and she had no idea of how to get them off, so this made for hours of fun. At the moment, Misao was on the back of a chair, desperately trying to break the thing by rubbing them against the back of the chair.

"Grr, these stupid things won't come off. Goddamnit, grrrr, someone help me!!" she complained. No one got up to assist, so she just continued on in her futile attempt at freeing herself. Kenshin was sitting against the wall, a book in hand, nose shoved into the pages. Sano and Kaoru were playing dice, while Megumi sat on the couch, also reading. Yahiko was no where to be found, having gone to a friends house.

They stayed like this for a while, until the phone rang, signaling for the three who were staying over to head home, for dinner. They all left, Misao still struggling with the finger cuffs, at around seven thirty. Soon only Kaoru and Kenshin were left.

"Hey, Kenshin, where did you learn your swordsmanship?" Kaoru asked. The question had been bugging her for a while. The teen was so wrapped up in his book he didn't look up, or even register the question.

"Master Hiko." He muttered. Kaoru frowned. She hadn't heard of that name before. Must be some obscure swordsman. She shrugged. At least she had gotten a truthful answer out of him, for once. They waited up for a while, sitting in the living room, silence enshrouding the space, waiting for Yahiko to come home.

At nine, he walked in the door, head high, eyes drooping. Kaoru looked him up and down.

"Where the hell have you been? The dump?" The young teen was filthy, covered head to toe in dirt, smelling to the high heavens. He shook his head.

"We went dirt biking, and, well, I fell off….hehe" Yahiko muttered, embarrassed. Kaoru chuckled, then sent him up to take a shower and go to bed.

"This one is going to bed as well. School tomorrow. How fun." He set the book he was reading down and headed upstairs, saying goodnight to Kaoru and Yahiko as he went. Kaoru, with no one to talk to and nothing to do, resigned herself to her room and went to bed as well. The end to a week with Kenshin finally closed.

School the next day started out the same. They went through the first few classes with little more then polite interest, taking notes and only paying attention when it was required. PE, however, became interesting.

As per par, they all dressed out and stood, waiting in the gym, talking quietly amongst themselves as the teacher called roll.

"Ok, since I'm not an adept at swordsmanship, we have two guests who will be helping us out. One is a teacher who has offered to help during his free period, and the other is a person who is an expert and was in a special army unit that fought overseas, one of the few who actually used swords over there. Say hello to Saito Hajime and Mr. Shiko." Kenshin froze.

_'Did she just say Saito? He's teaching us! SHIT!' _He thought, paling. Saito was a member of a self named group of swordsman, small but very effective. While still working for the USA, rivalries between the Shinsengumi, as they named themselves, and Kenshin were high. They even fought every so often, trying to best the other in strength. And now the leader was here, teaching them Kendo. Kenshin was screwed. Then the other named registered. His master was helping. He was doubly screwed. He hit his head forcefully. Why did these things always happen to him?

He looked up as the two of them stood in front of the class. He noticed that Hiko's eyes were darting around, and when they landed on him, he grinned, a wide, Cheshire smile. Kenshin hesitantly waved, then ducked down as the teacher began to call people forth to get a wooden practice sword and to register if they learned swords at all before.

Kenshin was called up soon enough, and, as he headed up to the front, Saito's eyes widened upon seeing him. So, the man recognized him. Wouldn't be a first. Kenshin grabbed one of the available swords, then turned to Saito, looking up into hard amber eyes. Saito looked back, surprised, no doubt, at the fact that Kenshin was here. He didn't even know Kenshin was still a teenager. They shook hands, searching each other for any changes in grip, nodding when none was found. Then he turned to his former master, glaring at him. He knew that Hiko only volunteered because Kenshin was in this class. They shook, Hiko smirking, Kenshin glaring. When he reached Mrs. Shurra, she was confused at the events going on between the three, but she put it aside for later.

"Have you ever taken any swordsmanship lessons before?" she asked. Kenshin hesitated, wondering if he should tell the truth or not. But before he could decide, Hiko answered for him.

"Yes, he has. He said so during my class." Kenshin turned, eyes flashing, to Hiko, who was standing smugly off to the side. Without another word, Kenshin headed back to his friends, seething silently. They backed away from the teen, whose eyes were changing between amber and violet once again. They stayed that way until the whole class had gone up to the front and had wooden swords in hand. By that time, he had finally calmed down.

"Ok class, settle down now. We need those who have had some training to move to the left side of the room, while those without move to the right. Saito, you take those on the left, please. See what they know. Mr. Shiko, you and I will help those who haven't learned anything yet. Okay, move people." Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yahiko moved to the left while Misao, Sano, and Megumi went right. They formed two clumps of people, the one on the right larger then the left. Kenshin looked around. Only eight people were in his group. The other five he recognized from Maekawa's dojo. He desperately wanted to ask how the sensei was faring, but didn't dare. He looked up at Saito, who stood with a piece of paper, a clipboard, and a pencil in hand.

"Ok, I need to know each person's name, and what kind of swordsmanship they learned. Line up in front of me please." Kenshin followed Kaoru and Yahiko, and ended up being fifth in line, behind his friends.

"Name."

"Matt Kander."

"Swordsmanship style?"

"Chuetsu-ryu" The tall bay moved to the side, and the girl in line next, Abby Whitmen, had the same answer. Kaoru was after her.

"Name?"

"Kaoru Kamiya."

"Style?"

"Kamiya Kashin-ryu." Kaoru moved next to Abby and Matt, then waited for Yahiko to join her. Saito lifted an eyebrow at his answer, but said nothing. Then, it was Kenshin's turn. Saito looked at him, face openly mocking.

"Name?" Kenshin glared at him. Such a useless question.

"Kenshin Himura."

"Swordsmanship style?" Kenshin hesitated. He had never told anyone his style. He glanced around at the kids watching him, waiting for his answer. Well, at least only those in Hiko's class would know what he was talking about. He was eternally grateful that his master hadn't gone into any detail on the style, just stating the name, and which category it fell into.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu." Saito raised an eyebrow. The kid actually told the truth. Amazing. He finished writing the names down, noting that most were from the same dojo, with the same styles. Only three people out of eight had different ones. Saito set the clipboard down, then returned, holding a wooden sword in his hand.

"Ok, since I get to choose to see how well you all know your style, I decided that you would face me, in a duel. One round. Whoever falls first loses. Everyone okay with that?" His tone made it clear that they had better be. The eight of them nodded, and a part of Kenshin, a part he struggled to keep hidden, rose to the occasion, eager to finish a long fought battle against the man. This part brought out a buried memory.

* * *

_The man in front of him held a katana, gleaming in the moonlight, A few men on the ground were already dead, having been killed by either a misfire from the fighting or by the boy holding the blood stained sword. He turned and faced the taller man, amber eyes glinting. _

_'Saito Hajime, Captain of the third squad of the Shinsengumi. What do you want from me?' The teen turned, eyes facing the wolf of Mibu, as his nickname had become. He smirked._

_'I want to fight the greatest of them all. The Hitokiri Battosai. Come now, afraid? I know we're on the same side, but whose to tell if one dies during a war?' He brandished his sword. The battosai faced off with him, and the two stood and waited for an invisible sign to begin. Then, it started with the clash of silver ringing. _

_The fight wasn't resolved, instead left to fate as the war around them called them back to their duties. They left, both agreeing to finish this fight someday._

* * *

Kenshin shook his head, both to clear the memory and to get rid of that nagging sensation to kill Saito. He watched as Saito faced off with Kaoru. He was obviously the better of the two, but he held back, gauging to see her skill. Then, when he had seen enough, Saito stopped playing and ended the duel, wooden sword held to her throat. She receded, grudgingly, and let Matt take her place. All the rest of the students were the same. Skill not very high, compared to Saito's, but allowed to fight until the man had judged them at least slightly competent, but not very. Yahiko actually continued to fight, even after he was sorely beaten. Saito had to actually knock him almost unconscious to make him quit.

"That was uncalled for, Saito." Kenshin remarked, walking into the space used for the evaluation. Saito blinked for a moment, then grinned wickedly. Now this was a fight he would enjoy.

"Yeah, sure, but it was the only way to make the little brat stop. He has potential, but without proper training, he'll amount to almost nothing anyway. So, back on topic. Ready to finish this?" The last words were spoken quietly as the two circled each other, eyes locked on the others. Kenshin nodded, eyes narrowed. When Kaoru looked at them, she shuddered, chilled by the look that was held there. They assumed ready stances, both different.

"I will draw him back out if I kill myself." Saito said, looking like he meant it. Kenshin glared right back at him, hoping that what he said wasn't true. They stared at each other for a moment, struggling for control, then, on an invisible mark, set off.

The first few moves were a blur, until Kaoru's eyes adjusted to the speed at which the two were moving. By her point of view, Kenshin was faster, making Saito struggle to catch up to him. Then, Saito got in a lucky strike, sending Kenshin flying into the back wall. Everyone's gazes were immediately brought to the fight between them, and eyes widened when they saw the teenager get up, as if making a Kenshin-sized hole in the cement wall was nothing. He wiped blood off his face with a hand.

His eyes had flickered to an in-between shade, somewhere between indigo and amber. His eyes had narrowed even further, and had adopted a cold, blank stare. Hiko looked slightly surprised. His student had a very effective look about him, and almost seemed as if he was the battosai. He just needed a little more amber and not so much indigo in his eyes. And they needed to be colder.

"So, still that same old kid. Never giving up. You haven't fallen or surrendered yet, so the duel is still in session." And Saito charged at Kenshin, sword held over his head at an angle to the ground. Kenshin narrowed his eyes, waited until the time was right, then just vanished, no wavering or anything. Even Sano was surprised, despite the mantra 'Kenshin can do anything.' Nothing could just do that. Actually, he had moved so fast, an after-image had been left behind.

Saito blinked in surprise for a moment, then realized Kenshin was beneath him. He lashed out with a foot, catching the boy in the ribs. Kenshin flipped off the foot, landing a few feet away, hair tie popping out and eyes all amber, and colder then the arctic. He stood up slowly. Saito's eyes widened, then narrowed when he realized that the battosai had finally emerged.

"So, you finally gave in didn't you?" He sneered. He didn't give up Kenshin's cover, not yet. He wanted to beat the boy before he told everyone who it was. While, yes, he hadn't expected to see him here, of all places, when he signed for a teaching job at his old school, he would enjoy it while it lasted.

Kenshin just stood there, eyes narrowed, and everyone one shuddered as the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. Off to the side, you could see Hiko, grinning wickedly as he turned the temperature down.

Saito charged, using the same attack as he had before. Kenshin just stood, rooted, until the man got within reach. Then he stepped to the side, dodging by a hairs breadth. Saito grinned. Kenshin had forgotten about the side slash that this attack could automatically be turned into. He whipped the sword around, but missed as the teenager spun, and slammed the sword against the back of Saito's neck. The man's eyes widened, while everyone looked away as he was propelled into the wall, also leaving a large hole.

They were all surprised to see him get up, wondering if, like Kenshin, he just wasn't human. He looked dangerously at the teen, wiping blood off his mouth. He got to his feet, and walked, menacingly, back to the designated fight zone. The moment they were about to begin, a large figure stepped in between the raised swords.

"Kill each other on your own time, but not in the middle of a school day. Now, lower your swords before I knock both of you unconscious for a week. And you know I can. Now." The two fighters reluctantly lowered the raised weapons and glared at each other, eyes saying that they would finish this another time. Hiko looked each in the eye, then took the swords forcefully away and beckoned them to follow. Having no choice, they went, and the moment they stepped out of the room, the whispers began, loud enough to reach the two's ears, yet soft enough to make in hard to discern words.

"Did you see them? They fought like maniacs? I wonder who would have won if Mr. Shiko hadn't stepped in. Would have been an interesting fight." They heard a boy say, before Hiko grabbed both of them by the arm and shoved them into seats in the boy's locker room.

"Ok, explanations. Now." He tapped a foot on a bench, sound reverberating in the empty room. Saito and Kenshin didn't look at each other, but the same thoughts were running through the others head. _'Shit. What do I say now?'_ Kenshin was the first one to speak up.

"It was an old fight. One that needed to be finished. Sorry master. This one knows that it was wrong to start it on the gym. Next time we will be more careful." Saito wheeled. This guy was battousai's MASTER? Well, if he couldn't beat Kenshin, he sure as hell didn't want to go up against the guy who could knock Kenshin out. That probably wouldn't be smart. He sat and listened as Hiko berated his apprentice and Saito for causing chaos in the gym.

"And just FYI, the two of you are going to have to repair the wall, since you managed to create two Saito- and Kenshin-sized holes in it. Here's the cement and the wheelbarrow." Hiko reached into a closet and pulled out the items. Kenshin didn't even bother to ask where they had come from. Knowing his master, it had been magic. "Ok, see ya!" He walked out, leaving the two rivals to sit and contemplate his words in silence, the cement and wheelbarrow sitting in front of them. .

"Well, we might as well get started now. Knowing Master Hiko, he'll stand over us with a katana, making sure we do it right. And there goes the whistle. See you for cleaning duty in a minute!" Kenshin ran off, changing quickly so he might actually get to lunch on time. He knew he would miss fourth anyway. Cement walls took forever to clean up.

He ran out as everyone else was coming in, bag in the wheelbarrow with the cement , and was pulling along behind him. He bumped into Sano and Yahiko as he ran out, and they walked in.

"Sorry, no time for questions! Cement walls to be repaired! BYE!! Tell the teacher this one is sorry!" Kenshin ran off, leaving the two with mouths hanging open, unanswered questions on the tip of their tongue. The sighed resignedly, knowing they would have to wait for answers until later.

Kenshin arrived in the gym only to see Saito holding a barrel, shovels, and one of the bags of quick dry cement with a frown on his face.

"Didn't know they actually expected us to repair the wall completely, just clean it up, and so forth." Saito commented. "I don't even know how to mix cement." Kenshin laughed.

"This one expected it, if Master Hiko was in charge of us. He used to make this one clean up everything, and fix it. Got tiring after a while. Well, this one knows how to mix cement. Had to repair a few busted walls in my time. Master sent one flying into them on a daily bases, when this one was a kid. Not much fun." Kenshin and Saito began to clear the debris, Kenshin from his hole, Saito working on the one he made. The dumped the debris into the wheelbarrow for transport later.

They had been working for thirty minutes when the principal came in, followed closely by not only a medical examiner, but a grinning Hiko. Kenshin, who knew his former master, could guess what was going on. He glared, eyes hardening. Saito stood, lost for a moment, then caught on. He too joined Kenshin, glaring over at the taller man. He didn't need an exam to make sure he was alright. Crashing into the wall wasn't much anymore, not to him. When the doctor stopped, getting a good look at the damage, he turned, wide eyed, to the principal.

"Are you sure that it was these two who made these holes? Not some sledgehammer?" He asked, voice harsh. The principal turned he head to Hiko for conformation. He nodded, smirking at the two men glaring at him. "The force that would take….not to mention the strain on the body….they shouldn't be alive, much less cleaning up the mess. I'm going to have to take a look at them, make sure they have no internal bleeding. Now, would it be alright if I used the nurse's office?" The principal nodded, hoping that her student and her new teacher were alright. It would be a shame, not to mention costly, if they were badly injured.

"Ok, come along you two. You heard the doctor." Hiko said, his voice sickly sweet. Kenshin and Saito put down their shovels, both wishing that they could just knock everyone unconscious and run away. But, unfortunately, Hiko couldn't be beaten that easily. So, resigned to their fate, they turned and followed the three up to the nurse's office.

The doctor soon began a thorough examination of the two, beginning with their heads. He had them turn around three times and walk in a straight line, then tilted their heads side to side, back and forth, and tapped the spine slightly, to make sure nothing was injured. The next command made both of them freeze up.

"Ok, take off your shirts. I need to check for wounds on the surface. Ah, come on now. You two aren't scared, are you?" He said, exasperated, when both of them refused to remove the shirts.

"Take them off, or I will." Hiko threatened. Saito and Kenshin both blinked, then, hesitantly, slowly, they removed their shirts. The doctor, principal, and the nurse, who was assisting, gasped.

Both Kenshin and Saito were well built, muscular, rock hard abs, solid chests. And they were both covered in scars, Kenshin's being the more numerous, or the most visible. Saito and Kenshin took in the others build, then looked around the room, waiting for anyone to say anything. Then, they looked at themselves. Besides the scars, they had bruises spreading from the front to the back of their bodies, purple, black, blue, all the pretty colors. Kenshin's wound on his arm hadn't yet healed, so that was still there.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. While I might have expected a few scars from you, Saito Hajime, captain of the third unit in the Shinsengumi, but from you, Kenshin Himura, this is certainly a shock. Where the heck did you manage to get all these?" The doctor asked, all in one breath. Kenshin looked down at his feet, clearly unwilling to answer. The he heard Saito mutter,

"If only you people knew. Then, maybe, he wouldn't be such a big concern. And I'm still gonna kill him. One of these days, I will." Thankfully, no one else was listening hard enough, so it went unnoticed. Kenshin and Saito sat in silence as they were probed by the doctor and the nurse, until they were about to hurt both of them rather seriously.

"Ok, since you people have conformed that we are human, we did survive hitting the wall, and we aren't dying, CAN WE LEAVE?" Saito finally exploded, and the three who were inspecting them backed away, nodding. "THANK YOU!" Saito heaved on his shirt and walked out, leaving Kenshin and Hiko to follow.

Back in the gym, an hour later, Kenshin and Saito were still working, struggling against fatigue and pain to put the last of the cement in place. Hiko was sitting in a chair, drinking a soda as if to say 'You did this, now deal with it.' He looked up as they finished it off and slumped, back to back, on the floor.

"Ah, come on now, it can't be that tiring. Besides, you made the mess, you clean it up." He quoted a much used children's phrase. Kenshin heaved a sigh, then got to his feet, heading out the door without a word. Lunch was waiting. The blessedly hot food of the cafeteria drew him inexorably towards it.

"And where do you think you're going?" Hiko asked, turning his head fractionally.

"Lunch." The word floated back to the two still in the gym Hiko chuckled. It was hard to remember that Kenshin was still a teenager, but his appetite always brought that back. Kenshin nearly ran him broke while he was training, not only in medical expenses, which were hard to explain and even harder to wipe off the records, but in food.

Kenshin walked into the lunch room hoping for obscurity, and still managed to practically ooze 'inhuman super powered teen.' All heads turned, and the story of his and Saito's fight had been greatly expounded upon. Not only had he hovered ten feet above the ground, he also turned into Superman, flew through three walls and pounded Saito into dirt, literally. People just loved to gossip, and what was a better topic then a fight? He walked to his usual table, under the stares of over a hundred people, and joined his silent friends.

They didn't say a word, just sat and ate, in complete quiet. All in all, no one said anything until later that evening, when they had gone home and were sitting in the living room with the TV on. Kaoru was still contemplating about the fight at school, and almost nothing else was talked about all day long. Finally, she just couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"What the hell did you do in the gym today, Kenshin?" She burst, staring over at the red-head. He sighed, resigned to answering. He had waited for the question to be sprung.

"This one had a bit of unfinished business with Saito Hajime. Nothing else. That's all." Kaoru looked at him, mouth open to voice another question, but Sano beat her too it.

"How did you manage to survive being thrown into the wall like that and not break anything?" Sano had a look of incredulity on his face. Kenshin flushed slightly. He had no idea how to answer this one.

"Well, one has trained a lot. Crashing into the wall like that, well, it wasn't much, in all honesty. Yes, it hurt, and yes, it still hurts, but it isn't as bad as some things this one has experienced." This was as close as he could get to an explanation. When Megumi, who had joined them, luckily Misao free, got to her knees, ready to take a look at his wounds, Kenshin shook his head. He didn't want them to see his scars again. So they sat, doing homework, in silence, until Sano and Megumi left, heading home, at eight.

Kenshin got to his feet, ready to make dinner, when he felt someone cling to his shirt from behind.

"Why, Kenshin? Why all the secrets? I wish you wouldn't keep them to yourself. I can tell they hurt you. Why don't you tell me one of them? Please? I just want to know why you're always hurting inside. Please?" A feminine voice said, her face buried into his shirt. He could feel tears streaming from her eyes.

* * *

**RK**: I think I reply individually, but here are my reviewer thank-yous!!!!

**Super Goat Girl** Here's the chapter! If you have any ideas I would love them!!! (I'm nearing the end of the already-written-out chapters)

**Flip-Flop108** Arigato Gozaimasu!! The only one who voted! You have my utter gratitude!

**MadzCheesyfied**Thanks! Any input on the voting?**  
**

**starfruit-22**I thank you from the bottom of my writing-obsessed heart. The reviews always brighten my day!!!! Sankyuu!!!!

**RK**: Ok, ok, I know, I be begging. But I need ideas! I have a few for later, but I need some from the people that like this story! You all have ideas of where you want this to go right? Well, now is when you get to be heard! And guess what? I will probably use them!! Mer! --'**  
**

**RK15**: THANK YOU TO ALL REVIEWERS!! YOU GET POCKY!!! Oh, and I'm looking for reader input. Again. This is where the polling stands right now

1. The government sends an old friend out to track Kenshin down and bring him back to the government.  
2. Kenshin leaves of his own accord after his secret is revealed to all of his friends.  
3. Voice manages to gain control and takes him back to headquarters. **1**

And what the Kenshingumi do about it is……

1. Attempt a full scale rescue mission solo. **1**  
2. Gain the reluctant help of one Hiko Seijuro to get Kenshin back

Other. Give me ideas!!!!

Any other ideas are more than welcome. I have a rough idea where I want to go with this but I would love to see what you all want!!!! Review!!!!!


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